2025 Pre-Conference Events

Join Us for OOPS 2025: Elevate Your Outdoor Orientation Program!

Connect, Learn, and Grow at the Premier Pre-Conference for Outdoor Orientation Professionals and Students.

Are you interested  transformative outdoor orientation experiences? Don't miss the Outdoor Orientation Program Symposium (OOPS), happening just before the AEE International Conference! This is your chance to dive deep into best practices, network with peers, and gain fresh insights at the stunning West Virginia University Adventure Outdoor Education Center.

OOPS 2025 Pre-Conference Details:

Dates:
Tuesday, November 4th, 2025: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Immersive program sessions at WVU’s Adventure Outdoor Education Center, followed by an evening activity in Morgantown)
Wednesday, November 5th, 2025: 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM (Immersive sessions at WVU’s Adventure Outdoor Education Center)
Location: West Virginia University Adventure Outdoor Education Center, Morgantown, WV.
Seamless Transition: We'll wrap up by 3:00 PM on November 5th, giving you ample time to travel to the AEE International Conference opening in Pittsburgh.

Why Attend OOPS?

Focused Learning: Engage in targeted sessions and discussions tailored specifically to the unique challenges and triumphs of outdoor orientation programs.
Networking Power: Connect with a dedicated community of professionals and students. Share ideas, build collaborations, and forge lasting connections.
Stunning Venue: Experience the exceptional facilities and natural beauty of WVU's Adventure Outdoor Education Center.
All-Inclusive Value: Your registration fee includes breakfast and lunch on both Tuesday and Wednesday, fueling your learning and networking. (Dinner will be on your own, offering a chance to explore Morgantown with new colleagues).
Registration Information - Secure Your Spot Early! Participation is limited to 80 registrants to ensure a high-quality, interactive experience. We anticipate strong interest, so early registration is highly encouraged! (Please note: 10 spots will be held for presenters).

Convenient Lodging & Logistics:

Stay On-Site: Affordable lodging options will be available at the WVU Adventure Outdoor Education Center for the nights of Monday, November 3rd, and Tuesday, November 4th. Perfect for settling in early or staying over between OOPS sessions!
Airport Shuttles: Convenient shuttle services from the airport can be arranged.
Dietary Needs: Easily submit your meal preferences and allergy information.

Airport Shuttle / Overnight Yurts Booking Link: https://secure.touchnet.net:443/C20389_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=5164&FROMQRCODE=true&SINGLESTORE=true

Don't miss this opportunity to kickstart your AEE Conference experience with a focused, enriching, and community-driven symposium. Mark your calendars and prepare for an unforgettable OOPS 2025!

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Dr. Brent J. Bell, University of New Hampshire, is the leading expert on outdoor orientation programs. Dr. Bell will host the symposium and share the latest insights from his current research, building upon his 30+ studies of outdoor orientation programming. 

Greg Corio, founder of West Virginia University's Adventure WV program will be the keynote speaker. Discover the compelling 20-year evolution of the Adventure WV model and how this program has adapted and grown to serve different populations in the state.

Join this interactive workshop and fill your toolbox with brain-based methods to inspire, engage, and create lasting, meaningful lessons. Enliven teaching, group work, circles, meetings, and counseling with engaging, experiential techniques, including movement, metaphor, art, and interactive dialogue to increase emotional connection, relevancy, and depth of understanding.

Explore practical ways to cultivate belonging, involvement, participant voice, choice, ownership, and application of learning. Integrate academics, training, or counseling lesson content with essential life skills, 21st Century Learning, and social-emotional competencies. Bring learning to life and take advantage of teachable moments with active participant-centered review and reflection techniques. Use the power of experiential learning to build a joyful, connected community. Take away inspiration, new perspectives, and practical tools for weaving meaningful reflection and connection throughout your programs.

Attendees will take away:
•  Strategies to empower participants of all ages in all kinds of learning and groupwork situations
•  Collaborative, learner-centered ways to create and maintain joyful and inclusive learning, communities
•Experiential, brain-based techniques to teach and review academic, counseling and training content
•Engaging ways to deepen learning through emotional connection and ongoing active reflection
•Intentional approaches for promoting involvement, voice, choice, and ownership of learning
•Practical strategies to integrate social-emotional and life skills with academics or program content that you can facilitate with simple materials and adapt to various audiences
•Groupwork, advisory, morning meetings, and circles facilitation ideas
•Games and activities that teach empathy, self and social awareness, communication, and other essential social and emotional skills
•Facilitation strategies to make experiential learning successful.
•Practices for becoming an intentional, responsive, and reflective educator/facilitator

Join us for an inspiring day of networking and meaningful conversation with other experiential practitioners.

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Jen Stanchfield inspires group facilitators and educators worldwide with engaging, informative, practical workshops and books. By emphasizing relationships and connection, she blends the art of experiential teaching and facilitation with neuroscience and social and emotional learning. Jen works with schools, colleges, mental health, and community organizations across the globe, helping practitioners increase meaningful engagement and reflection and build community. 
 
With her creative and responsive approach, Jen has significantly contributed to the field by offering tools and techniques that make reflection an accessible and interactive part of learning. She is the author of Tips and Tools for The Art of Experiential Group Facilitation and Inspired Educator, Inspired Learner: Experiential, Brain-Based Activities and Strategies to Engage, Build Community, and Create Lasting Lessons. In addition, she is the creator and regular contributor to the Inspired Educator Blog at experientialtools.com.
 
Jen’s creativity and depth of knowledge stem from three decades of diverse experience as an experiential educator and facilitator. Jen has worked as a teacher, an expressive/recreational therapist in community and clinical mental health, in youth development programs from gardening to adventure education, and as a professional development facilitator, adult learning, graduate courses, and organizational team building. She earned her B.S. in Therapeutic Recreation and Outdoor Education from the University of New Hampshire and her M.S. in Experiential Education at Minnesota State University. She founded Experiential Tools and has created a unique collection of engagement tools used by teachers, mental health counselors, and facilitators worldwide. 

Whether your program is small or large, wilderness-based or study abroad, you have a responsibility to your staff and participants to invest in risk management planning. Building a comprehensive risk management plan can feel daunting. Our goal is to provide you with a structured approach and tools to build a risk management plan appropriate for your organization. At NOLS, we've spent more than 55 years managing risk in wilderness environments around the world, and we're always learning. Join us to connect and share your valuable experience with peer programs, and let us share our experience and lessons learned with you. 

In this training for outdoor professionals and program administrators, you will build an action plan to improve your organization's risk management practices. Instructors will help you identify your program's strengths and areas for growth. You will also learn a framework for designing risk management systems that meet the unique needs of your program.

If you oversee a program that takes people off the beaten path, you are a good candidate for this course.
 

Participating Organizations Include:
Outdoor education programs
Colleges and universities
Study abroad, international programs, and travel companies
Military outdoor programs
Camps
Wilderness therapy programs
Guide services
Adaptive sports and recreation
Scientific research entities
Others operating in remote environments
 
Outcomes and Benefits to Your Program:
Learn a structured approach to designing a risk management plan.
Analyze your approach to risk oversight; risk-mission alignment and activity selection; staff hiring and training; equipment, food, and transportation; and emergency and crisis planning.
Participate in exercises to help you evaluate your approach to staffing, contracting, and serious incident response.
Learn effective practices and dialog with peer organizations.
 
Tools and Resources:
Risk Management Action Plan Workbook
NOLS Crisis Management Template and NOLS Wilderness Medicine Protocol Package
Resource examples and templates, including a risk release, health form, orientation checklist, transportation policy, and more

Mental and behavioral health challenges are becoming increasingly common in outdoor and experiential education settings. The Behavioral First Responder (BFR) Level 1 certification course is designed to meet this moment. This immersive, skills-based training equips outdoor leaders, educators, and field staff with the tools they need to effectively navigate behavioral episodes, de-escalate tense situations, and support participant well-being in real-time.

Throughout the day, participants will explore topics such as anxiety and panic response, grounding techniques, crisis communication, and trauma-informed care—all contextualized for the outdoor environment. The course draws on evidence-based approaches from counseling, psychology, and experiential education, and includes hands-on simulations and scenario-based learning.

No prior mental health training is required, but attendees should have some experience leading or supervising groups in outdoor or experiential settings. This course is ideal for trip leaders, field instructors, camp administrators, and program managers who want to foster safer, more inclusive environments for their staff and participants.

Content Warning: This course includes discussion of mental health topics such as anxiety, panic attacks, and behavioral crisis. Scenarios may reference sensitive experiences in the field. While all content is delivered with care and professionalism, we recognize this material may be activating for some participants. Emotional support resources will be available throughout the session.

Participants will leave with a certification, practical tools, and greater confidence in their ability to lead with compassion and competence.

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Dr. Curt Davidson is an experiential educator, researcher, and founder of Alpenglow Education, a mission-driven organization that provides mental and behavioral health training for outdoor professionals. Through Alpenglow’s flagship program, the Behavioral First Responder (BFR) certification, Curt has equipped thousands of field staff, university partners, and camp leaders with the tools to navigate behavioral challenges with confidence, empathy, and clarity.

With a background in outdoor leadership, Curt brings decades of hands-on experience into the classroom and field. His work focuses on the intersection of mental health, experiential learning, and nature’s healing power. He believes outdoor professionals play a critical role in supporting the well-being of participants and that with the right training, they can become first responders for emotional and behavioral health.

Curt also teaches at Utah State University, where he directs the Sustainable Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Lab (SORTL). His recent research explores climate emotions in recreation, resilience development in youth, and how outdoor programs can respond to changing social and ecological conditions.

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Adventure Therapy has the power to bridge divides—between individuals and communities, theory and practice, tradition and innovation. This pre-conference experience is designed for practitioners, researchers, and advocates eager to explore how experiential methods can break down barriers, foster connection, and drive meaningful transformation. Through hands-on workshops, collaborative discussions, and immersive experiences, we will deepen our understanding of how Adventure Therapy can create access, cultivate resilience, and empower change in diverse settings. Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or new to the field, join us as we step into the space where challenge meets growth, and where adventure becomes a catalyst for lasting impact.

Our preconference will offer workshops of all experience levels, and is open to anyone interested in learning about/furthering their knowledge in Adventure Therapy/Therapeutic Adventure.

The Certified Outdoor Educator (COE) credential recognizes the professional qualifications of individuals who work in programs that provide structured training and assessment/evaluation in outdoor leadership development. These professionals are committed to excellence and have proven ability to deliver quality outdoor leadership experiences. In addition, COEs have also demonstrated proficiency to educate, evaluate, and assess outdoor leadership training and development experiences based on the WEA 6+1 standards. The COE is critical to the training and recognition of WEA Certified Outdoor Leaders (COL). 

The clinic is designed to familiarize participants with the WEA certification levels and process and communicate to participants how to incorporate the WEA Credentialing Programs into their curricula and outdoor expeditions. We will also review the curriculum associated with various credentials. The clinic will include a balance between presentations, group discussion, and hands-on learning. Participants will have opportunities to learn, share ideas, and teach on an assigned educational component. 

Minimum Requirements to Become a WEA Certified Outdoor Educator (COE):

-$30 application fee (included in price). 
-Documented a minimum of 100 professional field days in outdoor leadership training and development. 
-Certified Outdoor Educator Clinic (THIS clinic).
-Successful approval of your online outdoor education portfolio 

NOTE: The COE credential is not valid without medical training appropriate for the specific context and setting in which the COE is teaching and leading.

Upon Successful Completion of Requirements: 
COEs are recognized within the WEA as providers of all WEA courses, programs,  and experiences (excluding the COE Clinic).

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Gabriel GarMelo is the Founder and Executive Director of GTG Outdoors, a nonprofit dedicated to making outdoor adventure accessible to historically underrepresented communities. Rooted in Central Texas, Gabriel brings years of experience designing and leading wilderness-based education programs that are both culturally inclusive and transformative for youth, families, young adults, international students, and older adults with aging bodies. 

His approach blends practical skill-building with trauma-informed care and intentional community-building, creating space for all participants to explore, reflect, and grow. From backcountry expeditions to neighborhood nature walks, Gabriel believes that outdoor experiences can spark lasting personal and collective change when facilitated with care and belonging in mind.

Through his work, he has mentored youth, trained emerging outdoor leaders, and developed place-based curricula that honor diverse ways of knowing, connecting, and being in nature.

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Dr. Kelli McMahan is a Clinical Professor, Coordinator of Outdoor Recreation, Recreation and Leisure Services

She teaches courses in the Recreation and Leisure Services program with a specific emphasis on outdoor education and outdoor leadership courses. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she works to develop co-curricular field experiences and coordinate accreditation efforts with the Wilderness Education Association. Dr. McMahan holds a Ph.D. in Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences from Texas A&M, a Master of Science in Health, Recreation and Physical Education from Oklahoma State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Baylor University. Most recently, her research has studied the stress and impact on individuals that results from wilderness accidents and the ensuing cognitive, social, and recreational response to those accidents. Dr. McMahan holds many technical outdoor certifications. She is also credentialed as a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist by the National Council on Therapeutic Recreation.