Disposition Demystified: NFDA’s 2026 Virtual Conference Offers a Deep Dive Into Today’s Emerging Options

Earn up to six CE hours without leaving the funeral home.

Brookfield, Wis. – “I’ve heard about water cremation, but I don’t really know how it works.” “My loved one was a veteran. Is burial at sea possible?” “I want something greener.” “What exactly is natural organic reduction?” “I just want to make the right choice.” 

These are just a few of the real questions families are asking about disposition and the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) will address them head-on during its 2026 virtual conference, “Disposition Demystified,” taking place February 17 and 18, 2026. 

This two-day, insight-rich online event will help funeral service professionals deepen their understanding of traditional, emerging and alternative disposition methods. As consumer expectations continue to shift, attendees will gain the clarity and confidence needed to educate families, navigate legal considerations and strengthen their service offerings. 

The virtual conference will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. CT each day. Participants will learn from experts who bring practical experience, legal insights and hands-on knowledge of today’s full spectrum of disposition options. 

“Disposition Demystified is designed for any funeral service professional who wants to stay informed, remain competitive and better serve today’s evolving consumers. This virtual format makes it easy and affordable to earn up to six CE hours without leaving your funeral home, while gaining practical knowledge about the rapidly changing disposition landscape,” said Laura Sear, NFDA Director of Education. 

Sessions Include: 

Day One – Tuesday, February 17

• “The Importance of Proper Paperwork” presented by Michael Nicodemus, vice president, cremation services, NFDA: An essential review of documentation practices that protect funeral homes from liability and ensure compliance with cremation and disposition requirements.
• “The U.S. Navy Burial at Sea Program” presented by Dr. Jennifer Lares, CFSP, founder, Mulling Mortician: A detailed look at eligibility, preparation guidelines and ceremonial elements of this meaningful veteran tribute, featuring video footage from an actual ceremony onboard.
• “Meeting Families Where They Are: Alkaline Hydrolysis in Practice” presented by Thomas Tierney, owner and funeral director, John F. Tierney Funeral Home: An accessible walkthrough of water cremation including the science, environmental benefits, common family questions and real-world insights from Connecticut’s first facility to offer it.

Day Two – Wednesday, February 18

• “Green Light on Green Funerals” presented by Darren Crouch, president, Passages International: Explore the growing demand for green alternatives and learn how funeral homes, cemeteries and cremation providers can meet consumer needs while expanding revenue opportunities. Crouch was recently named to the 2025 TIME100 Climate list, recognizing 100 global leaders advancing meaningful climate action through innovation and business leadership.
• “Natural Organic Reduction 101” presented by Mandy Stafford, preplanning and partnerships manager, Return Home: A clear, science-based overview of natural organic reduction, including process details, environmental advantages and guidance on confidently discussing it with families.
• “Understanding the Legal Landscape of Alternative Disposition Methods” presented by Chris Farmer, general counsel, NFDA: A timely examination of the regulatory, statutory and compliance issues shaping both traditional and alternative disposition offerings in the U.S.

“Disposition Demystified” will include live discussions and Q&A opportunities with presenters and fellow attendees. The conference will be emceed by Gabe Schauf, a licensed funeral director, program director and instructor with the Milwaukee Area Technical College Mortuary Science Program, and host of the NFDA podcast “A Brush With Death.” 

Funeral service professionals appreciate the high-quality of NFDA’s virtual events. Said one attendee at the 2024 virtual conference, which focused on consumer trends, “This had the same energy, flash and excitement as the Convention. I didn’t think you could make me feel like I was at a national convention while on a webinar, but this was a grand slam!” 

Register Today 

Registration for “Disposition Demystified” is now open. Fees include presentations, handouts and up to six CE hours.

• First registrant from an NFDA-member firm: $285
• First registrant from a nonmember firm: $330
• Additional registrant from the same organization: $215
• Student (accredited mortuary science program): $55

Participants can register at NFDA.org/Virtual or by calling 262-789-1880. Registration closes at 12 p.m. CT on February 16, 2026. 

NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving more than 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

Is the World Ready for Deep Space Burials?

So besides the launching of cremated remains into or out orbit as part of a final farewell (an option of such growing popularity that there are businesses built upon the option as a burial alternative), there may soon be legitimate options for deep space burial of intact remains. Popular space travel, long-term missions and other circumstances may bring the necessity to the forefront in the near future. 

Star Trek and the sci fi genre have long featured the practice artistically; how faithful to reality are such depictions? In some shows, bodies explode from the lack of atmospheric pressure; in others, remains float unprotected gently into space, accidentally or otherwise, and just sort of peacefully float away, intact.

What’s the real story?

Human Bodies Are Tough

No exploding corpses after all: the absence of the pressurized atmosphere isn’t extreme enough to pull the human body apart, as the skin and connective tissues are sufficiently tough to hold things together. Even so, there would be other immediate effects, as well as long-term ones, contributing to the degradation of remains… though it wouldn’t be decomposition on earthly terms.

Immediate loss of pressure would draw out gases within the digestive tract, as well as oxygen in the tissues and blood. While this process might cause some damage, it wouldn’t be catastrophic. Rapid dehydration would follow, fluids in the body boiling off as the gases dissipate, and due to the extremes of temperature – at the low end, hundreds of degrees below Fahrenheit – any remaining moisture in the body would freeze.

The result would be a sort of preserved, dessicated, partially frozen mummy which, depending on its  trajectory after being ejected into space, might some day pass within proximity to cosmic features where temperatures are significantly higher and could cause other damage… such as within proximity to a star, like our sun.  

No Putrefaction

And there wouldn’t be the bacterial helping hand we’re used to for the sort of decomp we typically experience  on earth. For one thing, there’s no oxygen in space to help with the processes of bacterial propagation in the gut, that primary device that directs things so expeditiously on the surface; none of the natural means would be available to aid putrefaction. Space’s extreme temperatures don’t support propagation of the microorganisms in our gut that typically drive the processes we associate with the body’s breakdown.

But at a more stately pace, over time, interstellar radiation would take over, contributing to the breakdown of tissues by the deconstruction of DNA and other cellular materials. There could also be collisions from micrometeoroids and other space debris, though most of them would be relatively small particles – space dust, really.  Ultimately, the body will disintegrate, if slowly.

And should the remains be protected by a space casket of some sort, a vessel for the protection or in honor of the deceased, preservation might be possible for considerably longer, depending on the nature of the materials and any preparation of the body.

A regal ending, in theory if nothing else, to find a final resting place among the stars of our origins.