The Oceans & Wildlife Institute (OWI), based at the Texas State Aquarium, is pioneering a place-based education model that integrates wildlife conservation, emergency response, and community resilience for the Gulf Coast. Designed as an applied training and workforce development initiative, OWI is piloting training and undergraduate courses that tie together wildlife and community resilience.

OWI’s flagship course, Foundations of the Wildlife Branch Operations, immerses participants in the operational realities of disaster response and wildlife care. Through interactive learning and real-world simulation exercises, trainees gain competencies in the National Incident Management System [NIMS) and the Incident Command System [ICS), learning to coordinate wildlife reconnaissance, rehabilitation, and release operations during hurricanes, oil spills, and cold-stun events.

The program extends beyond technical response skills, piloting undergraduate course curriculum on Wildlife & Community Resiliency with undergraduate Texas A&M students. In order to foster the links between ecological understanding, stewardship, and decision-making, this curriculum grounds students in the principles of social-ecological resilience drawing from leading research on wildlife and community systems. By linking ecological theory with applied field practice, OWI promotes a new generation of conservationists equipped to work across emergency management, environmental education, and coastal restoration.

This presentation highlights the collaborative design process behind OWI’s training program, and the lessons learned from its pilot implementation. It will share evaluation findings on participant engagement, cross-sector collaboration, and the value of experiential, place-based education in strengthening Gulf communities’ ability to protect both wildlife and people in the face of increasing environmental hazards.