Near-peer teaching occurs when a group of students who are advanced in their program teach students who are typically just starting out in the same (or similar) program. The literature suggests both near-peer teachers and learners can benefit, and there is often no reduction in the quality of learning for both sets of students (Bester et al., 2017; De Rijdt et al., 2012). This presentation will explore the potential benefits of near-peer teaching and provide best practice guidelines on how to optimally support near-peer teaching drawing on research conducted in an undergraduate outdoor environmental education program at a regional Australian university. The near-peer teaching experience that is the focus of this research occurs on a 3-day residential, outdoor environmental education fieldtrip, where students enrolled in a 3rd year course taught and led students enrolled in a 1st year course, under staff supervision. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a voluntary online survey conducted at the conclusion of a three-day, two-night fieldtrip. Over a two-year period, approximately 180 near-peer learners, and 100 near-peer teachers were invited to complete the anonymous, online survey with response rates of 61% and 75% respectively. The quantitative responses indicated that the near-peer teaching experience was successful pedagogically, and that it also performed an important enculturation function as it built the sense of community within the program. The near-peer teachers' effectiveness was attributed to their recent and current knowledge; their relatability; and their cognitive and social congruence with the near-peer learners. Our session will explore these themes along with some of the near-peer teaching challenges that the research participants described.