Excitement is in the air! Get ready to be part of something extraordinary at the Search and Rescue Council of New Jersey SAREX 2025. This event is sponsored by the Search and Rescue Council of New Jersey with support from the New Jersey State Police Search & Rescue Program. It's an event like no other, and we want you to be there! 

It's a training event for emergency services and organizations involved in search and rescue operations that focuses on expanding your knowledge, connecting with fellow professionals, understanding procedures for searching, locating, and rescuing individuals missing or in distress. 

Classroom training will be at 

NJSP Search & Rescue Unit Headquarters

2350 NJ-34

Manasquan, NJ 08736

Canine, Field training, and primitive camping areas will be at

Allaire State Park Group Campsite

2900 Lakewood-Allenwood Rd

Allenwood, NJ 08720

Register online now

See course schedule and descriptions

2025 SAREX shirts 

Help support the Search and Rescue Council of New Jersey for this event and future SAREX events!

Order through September 3rd

Lisa has been a K9 handler with Mason-Dixon Search Dogs (MDSD) since 2000.  She has certified K9 Cleo (GSD - deceased) in Area Search, K9 Zildjian (GSD - deceased) in HRD, and K9 Noble (GSD - current partner) in HRD.  Her fourth partner, K9 Pan (GSD) is in training for HRD.  Lisa has assisted with numerous searches, and has had successful finds on both live and cadaver searches.

Lisa is an Evaluator for the American Rescue Dog Association for both Area Search and HRD.  She is also a Lead Evaluator for the National Association for Search and Rescue for HRD - Land.  She has instructed at MDSD's annual Advanced HRD Seminar since it began in 2015, as well as at many external seminars.  Lisa has also provided private instruction for multiple handlers, guiding them towards certification as well as assisting with problem solving and meeting specific training goals.  Lisa stresses clarity and consistency in communicating with our K9 partners.

Howard "Howie" Mousley is the Assistant Chief and Wilderness Air Scent Trainer for Northeast Search and Rescue (NESAR). His search and rescue journey began in 2010, training German Shepherds for SAR work. In 2011, Howie earned his FTM/FTL DCNR certification. The following year, April 2012, Howie and his first canine partner, Dolche, achieved certification as a Canine Air Scent Specialist Team through PSARC. He furthered his qualifications, receiving his NASAR SARTECH II Certificate in May 2021. Just a month later, in June 2021, Howie and his second canine partner, Mayhem, certified in NASAR SARTECH II Area Search Non-Scent Discriminating. Howie's dedication to canine SAR work led him to achieve Lead Canine Evaluator status through PSARC and NASAR in April 2024.

Most recently, in September 2024, Howie and his current canine partner Mischeph are certified in both NASAR Canine SARTECH II - Non-Scent Discriminating and PSARC K9 air scent specialist. Beyond his canine handling duties, Howie instructs a variety of courses, including map and compass skills, survival techniques, and rope rescue. He is also a certified rope rescue technician. As a NESAR's Air Scent Trainer, Howie educates new handlers in search tactics, scent theory, and the crucial skill of understanding and interpreting their canine partners' behavior.

When he's not dedicating his time to SAR, Howie enjoys working around his farm property and exploring the outdoors through hiking and camping.

Alex Tkacenko is OEM Coordinator of Plumsted Township NJ, and graduate of Cape May County Sheriffs K-9 Association making him a certified K-9 officer and is certified Police K9 Trainer and Instructor responsible for canine search and rescue and recovery missions in NJ.  Alex has been working in training all types of K9’s since 1992.  He has instructed & evaluated and certified for himself different types of disciplines in the canine world, for Live find Airscent, HRD, Mantrailing, Narcotics, Explosives K9’s are some of the types he has personally Handled and certified with.  He train’s K9’s 2 the standards of NJPP CCA, US PCA to certify police canines for Patrol, Explosive, Narcotics, Cadaver, Accelerant Detection, Mantrailing and Live Find Search Dogs. 

Alex was president of the Search and Rescue Council of New Jersey for 6 years and cofounder of Central Jersey K9 Search and Rescue.  He has been a member of the Berkeley Township Underwater Search and Rescue since 2017.  He hold’s a TEEX Canine Search Specialist FEMA & US&R and Task Force Leader certification as well is a NASAR Canine Evaluator Certification.  Alex has trained and handled dogs in human remains detection, live find airscent, mantrailing, narcotics and explosives K9’s.  He has personally handled and trained many various types of dogs for sheep dog competitions especially border collies, and hunting type dogs for competitions.  As well it's a basic and advanced obedience dog trainer and behavioral dog trainer.   Alex believes in building the bond with dog and handler so that the handler TRUST THEIR DOG/PARTNER.  The Motto Alex goes by is TRUST YOUR TRAINING, TRUST YOUR DOG.

Alex currently handles and is certified with K9 Rusty & Piper Bloodhounds for Mantrailing both very successful, K9 Vegas a GSD certified in Mantrailing, HRD, Live Find with success in all 3 disciplines, K9 Tequila Belgium Malinios certified Narcotics and Trailing, K9 River a GSD certified in Explosives.  Alex has handled many dogs and certified many in different disciplines and with different breeds of dogs

Petra Cusato is the Deputy State Search and Rescue Coordinator, Search and Rescue Unit, Incident Support Bureau, New Jersey State Police. Petra Cusato is a full-time civilian employee at the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management Search and Rescue Unit. In this role, she serves as the Deputy State Search and Rescue Coordinator responsible for developing and implementing policies and procedures to maintain the readiness, capability, and efficacy of the SAR Unit. She serves an active role in many missing and endangered persons searches throughout the state utilizing tools such as Lost Person Behavior and search planning with SARTOPO. She is a certified National Association For Search and Rescue instructor in many disciplines including: SARTECH III, SARTECH II, Wilderness First Aid, Managing the Lost Person Incident, Search and Rescue Initial Actions, and SarTOPO.

Anna Delaney began her career with the New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Sciences in 2004. Over the years; Anna has worked in the Mitochondrial DNA Lab, CODIS DNA Lab and has supervised the Forensic Anthropology Unit since 2017. Anna specializes in human osteology, odontology, non-human comparisons, skeletal trauma analysis, excavations and exhumations. She provides training to Law Enforcement Agencies throughout New Jersey and is a guest lecturer at several Universities. She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida’s Distance Learning Program. Anna also populates the NamUs database with information on New Jersey’s Unidentified and Missing Persons cases, modifies NCIC records for missing and unidentified and assists the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit with retrieval of medical and dental information. Anna works closely with Forensic Odontologists, Medical Examiner’s Offices and local, state and federal agencies. In addition to her casework, she has been working on the remains found at the Red Bank Battlefield, Fort Mercer, Gloucester County, New Jersey since June 2022.

• New Jersey State Police, Incident Support Bureau, Search & Rescue Unit, State SAR Coordinator

• Director of Education, National Association for Search and Rescue

• Former President, Mountain Rescue Association and

• Former Chief,  New Jersey Search, and Rescue

23 years of active service.

I am currently the LandSAR Coordinator for Gloucester County and have been involved with SAR since 2014. I also work full time for the Washington Township Fire Department. Taking my initial training back in 2014, I would have never thought that SAR would have grown to what it is today and I enjoy every minute of it. Thank you for the opportunity to assist in your training and look forward to a great weekend!

Jeffrey Greenberg is a passionate and experienced instructor who has spent the past eight years teaching Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, and Wilderness EMT Upgrade courses to students ranging from outdoor enthusiasts, medical professionals, and search and rescue teams. A volunteer EMT for the past 10 years, he also serves as the Medical Unit Co-lead for New Jersey Search and Rescue for the last 7 years.

He is a Fellow Candidate of the Wilderness Medical Society (FAWM) and has been published in Wilderness Medicine Magazine. Jeffrey also contributes his expertise as a member of the WMS Search and Rescue Committee. In addition, he teaches Basic Life Support and other courses for clinical healthcare providers.

When he’s not teaching or responding to calls, you can find Jeffrey hiking, kayaking, practicing primitive survival skills, and camping with his wife and four daughters on adventures across the United States. His real-world experience and love for the outdoors bring energy, authenticity, and practical insight to every class.

Erik R. Negrón is a retired Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with 29 years of service.  During his time in the FBI he was a member of the FBI SWAT team where he was afforded the opportunity to attend a tactical tracking course with the Maryland Natural Resources Police - Special Operations Division in 2016. Mr. Negrón is also retired from the U.S. Army having a combined service time of 34 years of Army active duty, Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve. During his time in the military in gained extensive experience in map reading and land navigation. In addition, Mr. Negrón has volunteered as a SARTECH II with the Camden County Land SAR team, and is currently volunteering with the East Greenwich Township LSAR Team and the Gloucester County LSAR team.

Jay Vilardo has over 38 years of experience in public safety and currently serves as the Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) Coordinator, County Deputy Search and Rescue Coordinator, Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator, and County IMT Coordinator for Camden County, New Jersey. He is also a member of the New Jersey State Incident Management Team.  Jay is a certified National Association for Search and Rescue and ICS lead instructor/evaluator and the lead author of the NASAR Catastrophic Incident Search and Rescue program. He has trained countless responders in SAR and disaster operations across the region in SARTECH II, Managing the Lost Person Incident, Search and Rescue Initial Actions, Catastrophic Incident Search and Rescue, Wilderness First Aid, and Incident Command. In addition to his public roles, Jay is the owner of JDV Search and Rescue Training Associates, providing specialized training and consulting in search and rescue and emergency management.