He has a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Trent University and a Master's Degree from the Joint Graduate Program in Communication and Culture at York University and Ryerson University. He is a research associate with MediaClimate, an international network of media scholars that study environmental communication, placing particular emphasis on global media coverage of climate change. Tegelberg's research and teaching interests include global tourism, environmental communication, and media representations of indigenous peoples. His research has been published in Nordicom Review, Tourist Studies, International Communication Gazette, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Canadian Journal of Communication and in several edited volumes.