For those of us who work day in and day out at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education’s (NCOAE) headquarters in Wilmington, N.C., tropical storms and hurricanes are part of our environment. Just last year, Hurricane Matthew paid our campus a visit — right in the middle of a three-week campus-based course. But…

As you’re probably aware, we here at The National Center for Outdoor Adventure & Education (NCOAE) do a lot more than just organize backcountry trips for teens, Outdoor Educator courses for outdoor education industry professionals, GAP Year Programs for college-age students, and wilderness medicine and EMT training for anyone desirous of such certifications. For certain,…

…Stereotyping is never a good thing — primarily because such finger-pointing prejudices are usually unsupported by fact. Take, for example, the 140 million Americans who either dabble in human-powered outdoor recreational activities to some extent or are fully immersed in everything related to the backcountry and Wilderness itself. That’s almost half the nation’s population, if…

Here at The National Center for Outdoor Adventure & Education (NCOAE), we just aren’t all that interested in touting the attributes of the materials and products we use while traversing the worldwide wilderness areas in which we work. But every once in a while, we’ll step back and look at a piece of outdoor gear…

…WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) Ten local high school students returned after spending three weeks on a backcountry adventure in Alaska. The students, whose families live at or below the Federal Poverty Level, were awarded a $25,000 Challenge Cost Share Program Grant by the National Park Service. The funding supported the local non-profit group National Center for…

…You’ve just finished packing up your gear and made sure that your favorite secret camping spot is in better shape than when you arrived. You’ve disposed of your waste properly and minimized your impact. Suddenly, someone stumbles out of the tree line with a couple of sidekicks, tosses down a backpack and pulls a smartphone…

…Getting your child or teen to look up from their smartphone, put down their Xbox controllers, or step away from the TV can be a chore — and that’s just when you’re calling them to dinner. Mention taking a walk around the block or joining the family on a picnic a local park and witness…

…There are always lessons to be learned on the trail, and they aren’t always related to building a campfire, setting up a tent, or leaving your campsite cleaner than when you arrived. Some of these are life lessons that fall in the category of treating others as you would like to be treated and adhering…

…We’ve created packing and equipment lists to help you properly prepare for your upcoming NCOAE course or training….

Shoshana loves using the outdoors and wilderness to teach about the environment and opportunities for personal growth and development….

Lilly Ade brings a raft of experience in outdoor and wilderness education to her position as a field instructor for NCOAE….

Gabe Issac’s experience and passion for the outdoors and the environment makes her an ideal NCOAE field instructor….

Rachelle Toth is an NCOAE field instructor who is sincerely interested in connecting first-time and returning students to the outdoors….

…Jessica’s lifelong quest is to make the world laugh and instill her love of the great outdoors in others….

Kit Cosper is one of our EMT instructors, propelled in his daily work by an inherent love of learning and knowledge sharing….

…Adam assists NCOAE instructors in the field with activities, lessons, and site management….

…You’ve no doubt seen the symbol below painted on the side of an ambulance, embroidered on the uniforms of emergency medical technicians (EMTs), or stuck to emergency medical equipment. Maybe you even wondered whether it had any meaning. What’s with the snake coiled around the staff? What’s the significance of the six-pointed star? The Origin…