1-3 May: Formal Seagrass-Watch training and certification for TeamSeagrass

ALL SESSIONS AND CLASSES ARE FULL. Registration is closed.

But you can still apply to join TeamSeagrass and join us for our other upcoming trips in June onwards.

Len McKenzie and Rudi Yoshida of Seagrass-Watch will be in Singapore to conduct formal training for TeamSeagrass which leads to Certification.

Seagrass-Watch is a global scientific, non-destructive, seagrass assessment and monitoring program. First begun in 1998, monitoring under Seagrass-Watch now takes place at 259 sites across 17 countries. And Singapore and TeamSeagrass is part of this effort!

We are very excited to be able to learn from the Seagrass Masters, both in the classroom and in the field.

If you have been thinking of joining TeamSeagrass, this the best time to join so as to catch this opportunity for formal training and achieve certification.

How to join? Simply email these details
(a) your full name
(b) your age
(c) your email address
(d) your contact number
(e) any previous experience
to Ria at hello@wildsingapore.com, please put "TeamSeagrass" in your subject header. Please also read the FAQs on this blog for more about the programme.

Details of the upcoming formal training

1 May (Fri)

7am-12noon: Pulau Semakau monitoring and Level 2 Field Session

3.30-9pm: Level 1 classroom session
Venue: Singapore Botanic Gardens Botany Centre

2 May (Sat)

8am-12 noon: Level 1 Field Session at Chek Jawa

3 May (Sun)

9am-3pm: Level 2 classroom session
Venue: Singapore Botanic Gardens Botany Centre

Level 1 Classroom session: some of the topics to be covered

Seagrass Biology & Identification
• What are seagrasses
• Characteristics to ID seagrass
• Seagrass species of Singapore
• How to make a herbarium press specimen

Seagrass Ecology and Threats
• Why seagrasses are important
• The variety of seagrass habitats
• Factors important for seagrass growth
• How seagrass can be damaged
• What happens if you damage seagrass

Seagrass monitoring
• What is monitoring?
• Designing monitoring programs
• Common drivers for monitoring
• Why monitor?
• Who uses monitoring information?
• Monitoring protocols

How to sample
• Sampling protocols & how they were developed
• What parameters we measure & why?

How data is used
• What are some of results?
• Who uses the information?
• What is the information used for?

Level 2 classroom session: some of the topics to be covered

Seagrass Identification refresher
• Characteristics to ID seagrass
• Seagrass species of Singapore

Protocols refresher
• Protocols
• Common types of errors

Data entry & analysis
• How to enter Seagrass-Watch data
• Preliminary analysis of data for trends

GPS training
• The simple theories of GPS
• How a GPS works and types of errors
• How to operate a handheld GPS receiver