Alaska SeaLife Center

The Alaska SeaLife Center will implement the second phase of its wildlife disaster preparedness training program. Based on their earlier work with Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at the University of California, Davis, that established a nationwide network of zoo and aquarium professionals trained to respond to wildlife disasters, this project will address training gaps identified through real-world deployment experience. Staff will update program curriculum to be available in both in-person and hybrid formats and create two new training modules for marine mammal and marine bird field observation and assessment. The team will expand training to new participants and utilize a train-the-trainer model to sustain training delivery across institutions. As a result of the project, an updated responder database will allow incident commanders to identify and rapidly deploy specialists when wildlife disasters occur.