Courses

Learn how to respond to an active shooter situation in your agency.

Explore how to make your writing even better in this advanced writing skills course!

This course will introduce you to the concepts associated with the successful operation of the technical aspects of a pool.

Gain a basic understanding of the elements of business writing.

This course will teach you how to conduct accurate Internet research.

Explore the world of community gardening by learning how to initiate, structure, manage, and promote healthy gardening in your local community.

Gain a basic understanding of the importance of good customer service practices. This course outlines the six elements of customer service that help to make an organization successful. Communication techniques and strategies for dealing with problematic situations are discussed in detail.

In this course, you will develop an understanding of how the health of the environment directly affects human health. We will discuss issues related to the contamination of public lands and the importance of regulating chemicals. We will also explore how environmental health is directly influenced by legal actions.

This course is an introduction to the basics of preventive maintenance. In this course, you will learn about the benefits of incorporating regular preventive maintenance into a facility management program.

This course is the third in a series of three courses on Cultural Resources Management in Wilderness. It provides a comprehensive overview of the process used to evaluate proposals for scientific activity in wilderness.

This course, the final course in the Paleontological Resources in Wilderness course of study, discusses the process of evaluating proposals for conducting scientific activity in wilderness and examines the decisions wilderness managers must make in order to preserve wilderness character during such activity.

Establish a strong foundation in the physical and programmatic components of accessibility compliance. This certificate program explores disability and accessibility as a social construct and provides knowledge in disability awareness concepts, program access, universal design, and guidelines and standards for accessible design.

This course is designed for students and professionals who are interested in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the requirements for providing accessible programs, services, and activities within federal, state, and local recreation agencies.

This course will help you gain an understanding of the different movements in the history of parks, human health and natural environments. It will also provide you the tools to develop personal definitions for the terms “human health” and “natural environments.”

Establish a strong foundation in the basics of interpretation. This certificate program explores the history of interpretation as a profession and provides knowledge in roving, informal interpretation, audience identification and engagement, and interpretive talks.

This is the first course in the Paleontological Resources Management in Wilderness series. It focuses on the basics of managing paleontological resources found in wilderness.

Gain skills in recognizing safety and conflict situations in your parks and how to respond and de-escalate conflict.

Understand the basic principles of sustainability and green park operations as they apply to park operations and maintenance.

Understand how internal systems can be improved to best promote and implement green park operations within your organization and community.

Explore cost-saving sustainability best practices to implement as part of your park and public lands operations, and develop ways to reduce your organization’s environment impact.

This course will prepare learners to develop a message and remain on topic when they are presenting that message to the media and public without straying from the point, or points, they want to make.

Explore the role(s) that the parks and recreation profession can have in making connections between the natural world and human health through this self-paced certificate program.

In this course, you will explore the many ways in which individuals have creatively engaged with the natural environment to improve individual and community health.

Do you have a strong background and understanding of interpretation (perhaps in programming) but want to dig deeper? Do you struggle with interpretive media or writing? Are you curious about what exactly ‘dialogic’ interpretation means? If so, this certificate program is for you!

The Intermediate Methods in Interpretation Certificate is entirely web-based and consists of five interpretive courses each culminating with an applied assignment that relates to your organization or site. This course of study provides you with the opportunity to receive feedback from your instructor(s) who review the elements of your portfolio. Additionally, if you apply for and are accepted into the cohort-based program, you will work with a mentor who has considerable experience in the interpretive field who will guide you as you develop your intermediate skills.

Stop! Before you register for this certificate program, are you an NAI member interested in completing it as part of a cohort and working with a mentor? The Eppley Institute and the National Association for Interpretation are recruiting students to participate in a cohort program that will begin in January 2020. Applications are now available. If you are interested in learning more and applying, please click here. If you would like to join NAI, please visit their website.

Explore guided interpretive programs, which can take many forms: walks, hikes, house tours, canoe trips, bus tours, cave tours, just to name a few.

This course provides an introduction to capital improvement. Capital improvement is defined and its connections to an agency’s mission are discussed.

In this course you will explore the core concepts covered in the seven courses in the Human Health and Natural Environments series.

This course is the second in a series of three courses on Cultural Resources Management in Wilderness. It provides an in-depth look at the special requirements of inventorying and monitoring cultural resources in wilderness.

This course, the second course in the Paleontological Resources Management in Wilderness course of study, provides an in-depth look at the inventory and monitoring process associated with paleontological resources.

The visitor is sovereign. Interpreters may hear this very basic but very important concept many times during the course of their career. What does it mean? It means that each visitor or guest brings a unique level of knowledge, interest, and care each time they visit a site.

Lighting enhances, extends and promotes the use of parks and public places after dark. The way we light our parks can have serious effects on public perception of safety and can cause negative effects on people and the environment.

Making the Case for Nature & Health: Theoretical Arguments is geared towards park and recreation professionals and students in park, recreation, public health, and related disciplines. No prior knowledge is required to take this course. This course is recommended to be completed fourth in this series.

This course will provide wilderness managers a comprehensive overview of their role in managing mineral rights in wilderness.

In this certificate you will learn the basic steps for decision making and management that are applied to federal wilderness areas, and how they can be interpreted and implemented on other, non-federal protected areas. These wildlands can benefit from the same systems and strategies the US government uses to identify the wilderness characteristics, develop plans for stewardship, manage visitor usage, and protect the natural resources.

This course will allow you to gain an understanding of the different environmental attributes that affect human health. It will also discuss how our personal perceptions of the environment influence our behaviors and interactions with nature.

This course is designed for facility managers and park and recreation providers who are interested in gaining a foundational knowledge of the requirements for accessible facilities within federal, state, and local agencies.

Explore how to make networking work for you!

Build a foundational understanding of facility management practices, particularly as they apply to parks and public lands agencies. The certificate program follows the Asset Management Process, an approach used by the National Park Service.

The purpose of this certificate program is to prepare park and recreation agencies to conduct a system master plan. The components can be used in several types of planning and will ultimately prepare agencies to either 1) conduct the planning process on their own, or 2) be prepared to collaborate with a contractor to facilitate the master planning process. This certificate covers the fundamentals of a system master plan according to the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA).

Understand laws, regulations,and agency policiesrelating to health and safety and recognize common health,safety, and conflictsituations that may arise in parks.

Learn about various types of threats and hazards you may encounter as a park employee and strategies for responding to them.

This course introduces you to industry-standard project management practices, including the phases of project management and useful strategies that keep a project on track.

This course will teach you how to manage your thoughts, body language, nervousness, and speech patterns to present yourself professionally. You’ll also learn how to present at meetings, use the five-S pattern to prepare a good presentation, and punch up your presentation with visual aids.

This course is aimed at improving your skills and learning new techniques that will give you the persuasive edge when you are making a presentation, fielding difficult questions, or presenting complex information.

Gain the skills and confidence needed to interact with visitors informally and learn how to provide them with interpretive opportunities. This course explores three types of contacts: orientation, information, and interpretation.

In this course you will develop an appreciation for the use of science in understanding the complex relationship between human health and natural environments. Topics include the scientific method, best practices for interpreting scientific reports, and identifying possible sources of bias.

In this course, you will explore the concept of sense of place and how it can be used to understand the relationship between human beings and our natural environments. You will also discuss environmental education and its importance in human health outcomes.

Explore how social media can be used interpretively to expand your reach.

This course will help you better understand special use permits and the roles and responsibilities of event monitors.

CEU include free for a limited time!

On average, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. The increase in the availability of opioid drugs is connected with an increase in opioid drug use and opioid related overdoses. Learn more about this epidemic and understand the true impact of opioid abuse.

Opioids are effective medications for treating pain, but they have a high potential for causing addiction, and some individuals may start misusing opioids, whether that is prescription or illegal opioids. The rapid increase in the use of prescription opioids has led to a dramatic increase in overdoses and overdose deaths. Furthermore, some people who misuse prescription opioids may start using heroin and other illegal substances with similar chemical structures that are cheaper and more readily available.

Join City Parks Alliance, World Urban Parks and World Parks Academy for a webinar exploring strategies for managing biodiversity in a changing climate.

In part two of this free webinar series, join us for inspiring ideas of play and resiliency from around the world. Learn about physical materials like playful care packages to combat social isolation in inner cities and Play It Safe Kits to re-envision streets for play; recreation opportunities using Indigenous games; and practical toolkits for families to connect with nature during COVID-19. Advocating for active and outdoor play at home and in parks and nature is uniting the world’s Parks and Recreation Professionals together to share ideas and expertise to help heal all families in the world. #naturenevercloses