Funding News
Vertex Rail Corp Provides NCOAE With Funding and Volunteer Support
…If you follow us on Facebook, you may have read about a Community Outreach grant we recently received from the Vertex Railcar Corporation — a startup that’s focused on building the next generation of safe rail tank cars. Vertex and The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education’s (NCOAE) are neighbors here in Wilmington, N.C….
Student Profiles
Meet the NCOAE Student: Robert Fox, EMT Course Graduate
Meet NCOAE student Robert Fox, who recently graduated from NCOAE‘s 21 day intensive EMT course to begin his career as an EMT!…
Outdoor Education
Trending: Restorative Practices in Outdoor-based Experiential Education
…A few weeks ago, we published Part 1 of this series, which covers what we here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE) view as the trending best practices to know about in outdoor and adventure-based experiential education. Here, in Part 2 of this series, we introduce you to Restorative Practices, and…
Pacific Northwest
…Rugged, remote, and breathtaking, Oregon’s Cascade Mountains become your classroom on an NCOAE expedition….
Video Gallery
…Explore a variety of videos from actual NCOAE field experiences, from EMT training to adventures that take place in the backcountry….
Camp LEAD in New Hanover County, North Carolina
Empowering local teens with experiential leadership—right here at the coast Camp LEAD from the National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE) delivers a proven, research-informed leadership curriculum for New Hanover County teens. Blending outdoor challenges with social-emotional learning, Camp LEAD helps students build confidence, teamwork, and decision-making skills they can apply at school, at…
Outdoor Education
Backcountry Guide . . . Outdoor Educator . . . What’s the Difference?
…If you’re considering a career in the field of outdoor education and adventure programming that involves leading groups through remote wilderness areas, your career path will come to a fork in the road where you will face an important choice: Do you want to become a backcountry guide or an outdoor educator? At first glance,…
NCOAE Recommends
How to Find Your Perfect Outdoor Partner
…It stands to reason that the success or failure of any non-solo outdoor adventure depends to a great degree on the person or people accompanying you. As a result, and long before you head out the door on your next adventure, you’ll want to ensure you don’t select a partner who can quickly turn either…
College Credit
NCOAE offers select high school credits through Blueprint Education, an accredited distance learning school for grades 8 through 12….
Partners & Affiliations
…Check out the organizations that NCOAE is directly affiliated with and explore our list of resources to learn more about outdoor education….
EMT Training
Gaining the Clinical Experience to Get into Med School: EMT Training and Direct Patient Care
…How do I get the patient care experience I need to get into medical school if I’m not a doctor? Discover ways to get hands on experience now….
Education Without Walls
How To Help Provide Outdoor Experiences for Youth in Need
…At first glance, our website might lead the casual observer to surmise that our organization, The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE), is just another run-of-the-mill for-profit business. The kind of outfit where the owners get rich by running adventure-based trips for children from well-to-do families to exotic destinations around the globe. Truth…
Outdoor Educator Training
Outdoor Industry Jobs Require Personal Experience and Certifications
…Professional development — learning that allows you to earn or maintain professional credentials — is key to career planning, especially when it comes to considering a career in the outdoor adventure and education industry. Much more than participating in a bunch of classes, our sector of the outdoor industry looks favorably on applicants with wilderness…
Expeditions
High School Summer Semester – 10/11th Grade North Carolina
…Explore the remote Pacific Northwest, on a 25-day wilderness expedition!…
Custom Programs for Colleges & Universities
Partner with NCOAE as a College or University and give your students a unique experience. Request a custom program today!…
NCOAE Recommends
Success is Just Getting Out There: Re-ignite Your Inner Beginner – Part 3
…On a recent early morning bike ride along some local wooded trails, I happen to stumble upon the greatest of beginners: a group of children playing with rocks, moss, and whatever “loose parts” they could lay their hands on. I smile and ride right past them, unwilling to break the spell. But then I spot…
Emergency Medicine
EMTs Come to the Rescue in Natural Disasters
…In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, we discuss the integral role EMT professionals play in supporting communities after natural disasters….
Custom Programs
At NCOAE, We Don’t Cut Cookies — We Plan Dreams
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page.” ~ Saint Augustine On those many occasions when schools, clubs, organizations, or companies ask us to come up with an adventure/education excursion for their group, we don’t reach into a cabinet and pull out a cookie-cutter version of a wilderness…
International Expeditions
An NCOAE Instructor Reflects on a Trek Among the People and Summits of Nepal
Editor’s Note: Stephen Mullaney, NCOAE’s lead instructor, recently returned from our first-ever program abroad — an expedition to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. Stephen led a group of South Korean high school teens on a six-day expedition through portions of this mystical and spiritual country. Below are his reflections on what he describes as…
About NCOAE
The Importance Of Self At NCOAE
We have a formula here at the National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE) and it reads like this: Self + Community + Action = Impact. In fact, self is the backbone of what we do at NCOAE. It involves our esteem, self-actualization and the decisions we choose to make — all of which…


