Students in white lab coats and purple gloves gathered around an instructor in a bright lab

From Training Room to Real-Life Response

by Eunah Preston
June 23, 2026

This past April, 22 responders from eight OWCN Member Organizations gathered in Santa Cruz for the Oiled Wildlife Specialist (OWS) training, an advanced two-day course focused on pre-wash care and cleaning and conditioning for oil-affected wildlife.

OWS training is part of the Network’s multi-tiered preparedness program that helps ensure OWCN responders are ready to step into specialized roles when wildlife emergencies occur. This year’s OWS course content was spearheaded and refined by OWCN veterinarian Dr. Jamie Sherman and OWCN wildlife rehabilitator Sam Christie.

Hosted this time by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care & Research Center for day 2, participants rotated through activities designed to build technical skills and instill a deeper understanding of how each specialty contributes to the overall care and rehabilitation process.

Four people in masks, face shields and gloves gathered around a table doing hands-on work — Wendy Massey teaching feather cleaning by allowing responders to clean an oiled feather (L-R: Wendy Massey, Kelly Trevenenn, Erin Bell, Britney Dolan)

Learning from each other

Beyond learning new skills from OWCN instructors, participants also had the opportunity to share expertise from their day-to-day work at wildlife centers and rehabilitation facilities across California.

People in matching shirts and masks gathered around a stainless table in a training room — Oiled carcass exam and pre-wash check demonstrations.

The training concluded with a series of team-based “Olympics”-style challenges that reinforced key concepts while helping responders build relationships with colleagues from across the Network. By the end of the course, all 22 participants had earned a new specialty qualification and gained a new cohort of peers they may one day work alongside during a real spill response.

That opportunity came sooner than anyone expected.

Putting training into action

Just weeks later, the OWCN was activated to respond to wildlife affected by the Los Angeles River oil spill. Several responders who participated in the April OWS training were activated and deployed to assist with the response.

Photo diptych: volunteers in hallway; person in PPE and purple gloves handling medical supplies — L-R: OWS participants engaging in the "Olympics" challenge; OWCN responder Dana Roberson collecting blood samples from oiled birds during the Los Angeles River response.

At the Los Angeles Oiled Bird Care & Education Center in San Pedro, Oiled Wildlife Specialists from this past cohort as well as previous cohorts immediately put their skills to work, providing specialized care to oil-affected birds using the same techniques they had practiced during training.

Three masked scientists in white coveralls and purple gloves examining a tablet in lab — OWCN responders entering records during oiled bird exams during the Los Angeles River response (L-R: Teal Helms, Emily Pomerory, Jamie Sherman).

Their rapid transition from the classroom to a real-world response highlights the value of OWCN’s ongoing training program to ensure that a strong team of wildlife responders is always prepared to deliver the highest level of care in the event of a disaster.