Testing 2026 Conference: Full Schedule

Main Conference: Tuesday, September 30 - Thursday, October 2, 2025

Preconference: Monday September 29 - Tuesday, October 30, 2025

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8:30am EDT

Don’t Wait - Learn from everyday work using Human & Organizational Performance (HOP)

Friday July 11, 2025 8:30am - 10:00am EDT

When an incident occurs, a traditional approach is to investigate, starting with the event and working backwards to identify causes (or “root causes.”) This approach, while common, may miss significant context for the incident, or it may trap us into waiting for incidents to occur in order to learn. Drawing from work in Human and Occupational Performance (HOP), Operational Learning is a process of learning from everyday work, not waiting for incidents to occur, providing us with strategies to look forward rather than backwards. In this workshop we will explore the theory and practice of operational learning, apply it to outdoor and experiential education programs, and identify useful questions to create a psychologically safe space for operational learning to occur.

Speakers

Steve Smith

Consultant, Experiential Consulting, LLC

Steve Smith (he/him/his) is the founder of Experiential Consulting, LLC, specializing in risk management for outdoor programs and the lead author/editor of Beneficial Risks: The Evolution of Risk Management for Outdoor and Experiential Education Programs (2021). After taking a NOLS... Read More →

Friday July 11, 2025 8:30am - 10:00am EDT
Cumberland / Kennebec / Lincoln Holiday Inn By the Bay:88 Spring St, Portland, ME 04122

Program Administration, Breakout Session

10:30am EDT

Partnering with Purpose: Building Strong Alignment Between Ground Operators and Educational Institutions

Friday July 11, 2025 10:30am - 12:00pm EDT

Vermont

When educational institutions and ground operators partner effectively, there are great opportunities for creating impactful programming for students. Each side of the partnership contributes its own unique experience and perspectives informed by their institutional history, internal risk tolerance, and regulations or policy that dictate the scope of their operations. To build strong partnerships, it is essential to have processes in place to recognize these potential divides and find common ground that leads to well-aligned expectations and execution. This session will focus on the unique proactive and reactive risk management considerations of running programs alongside partner organizations. Through a series of real world case studies, we will share tools that both organizations can use to create well-aligned, successful, long-lasting relationships.

Speakers

Dave Haffeman

Risk Management Director, Where There Be Dragons

Dave has worked as field staff and an administrator in outdoor and international settings since 2005. Dave began his tenure at Where There Be Dragons in 2015 as a South America semester instructor. Over the years he has gathered valuable knowledge of Dragons programming while holding... Read More →

Kevin Porter

Partnership Program Director, Where There Be Dragons

Early in his career, Kevin moved to Kenya to consult for various NGOs, completing projects such as developing an inventory system for pharmacies and conducting needs assessments in remote communities. Kevin spent a decade with Rustic Pathways as their director of Global Program Operations... Read More →

Friday July 11, 2025 10:30am - 12:00pm EDT
Vermont Holiday Inn By the Bay:88 Spring St, Portland, ME 04119

Program Administration, Breakout Session

1:30pm EDT

How to prepare your employees to act in emergencies big and small

Friday July 11, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT

Vermont

Many outdoor educators are lay medical providers who get their wilderness medicine certification, but have no real-world experience. You wouldn’t hire a climbing guide without any climbing experience, or a raft guide who has never been down a rapid, but we routinely hire folks into roles where they need their WFR, but have no real medical experience. In this workshop, we’ll discuss ways to enhance your staff’s wilderness medicine training and help create a culture of learning. We’ll talk about what you can do as an employer to ensure your staff are ready to act in emergencies big and small.

Speakers

Robin Larson

Education Director, NOLS Wilderness Medicine

Robin Larson is the Education Director at NOLS Wilderness Medicine. She has spent the last two decades working in the outdoor education field and has been instructing for NOLS Wilderness Medicine and Expeditions since 2008. Robin is a WEMT, BSN/RN, has her FAWM, and a master’s in... Read More →

Josh McNeary

Staffing & Development Director, NOLS Wilderness Medicine

Josh McNary is the Faculty, Staffing, and Development Director at NOLS Wilderness Medicine. He has been working for NOLS since 2002 and is a long time wilderness medicine and expeditions instructor at NOLS. Josh holds a BA in Public Policy, an MA in International Development, and... Read More →

Friday July 11, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Vermont Holiday Inn By the Bay:88 Spring St, Portland, ME 04119

Program Administration, Breakout Session

1:30pm EDT

What does colonialism have to do with this? The development of a risk management microcredential for Indigenous Land Based Program practitioners

Friday July 11, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT

Conneticut / Rhode Island

Through the development of a risk management micro-credential for Indigenous Land Based practitioners, two former outdoor educators turned academics critically examine mainstream wilderness risk management practices through a decolonial lens. This workshop will provide a snapshot of the micro-credential developed through Lakehead University’s school of Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism, and an overview of the Indigenous land based programming context in Canada and the US. Next, we will explore our positionality as white settler Canadians working in consultation with Indigenous partners and colleagues and provide some advice and encouragement for other allies seeking to decolonize their risk management practice. Finally, through examples from our work and audience engagement, we will share what we learned, how we applied that learning, and why this work matters.

Speakers

Julie Bremner

School of Outdoor Recreation Parks and Tourism, Lakehead University

Julie’s doctoral interests stem from her long career as a field instructor for NOLS, Where There Be Dragons and similar programs in Canada. Her current work weaves a passion for supporting experiential educators to foster just, equitable, diverse, inclusive learning communities... Read More →

Gail Kuhl

Assistant Professor, Lakehead University

Gail Kuhl (she/her/they) is a settler Canadian who resides in Thunder Bay, ON, the traditional territory of the Anishnawbe people and the treaty Territory of Fort William First Nation, signatories to the Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850. Gail is an assistant professor in the School... Read More →

Friday July 11, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Conneticut / Rhode Island Holiday Inn By the Bay:88 Spring St, Portland, ME 04119

Program Administration, Breakout Session

3:00pm EDT

BRAINS - their differences, their needs, and how to support them

Friday July 11, 2025 3:00pm - 4:30pm EDT

New Hampshire

If you are looking for a workshop to update your understanding, awareness, and ability to support groups of neurodiverse people, look no further. We will dive into brain science and a brief history of neurodivergent diagnosis, we will look at best practices to support all brains in thriving in an outdoor or wilderness setting, and we will encourage participants to reflect on the ways they are supporting their participants and staff in addressing their own needs when growing our brains' capacity to tolerating and managing risk.

Speakers

Teresa Jennings

Mental Health Advisor, Cornerstone Safety Group

Teresa Jennings, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker based in Durango, CO. She serves as the Substance Abuse Program Manager for the Durango School District and a Mental Health Advisor for Cornerstone Safety Group. With over a decade in public education and a background in... Read More →

Margaret Kelso

Risk Management Advisor, Cornerstone Safety Group

Margaret, along with her role with Cornerstone Safety Group, is the Executive Director of Talisman Programs, a non-profit camp in Western North Carolina serving adolescents and young adults with ADHD and on the Autism spectrum. She also currently serves on the Association of Experiential... Read More →

Friday July 11, 2025 3:00pm - 4:30pm EDT
New Hampshire Holiday Inn By the Bay:88 Spring St, Portland, ME 04119

Program Administration, Breakout Session

Testing 2026 Conference

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