2023 Volunteer Water Monitoring Training Event
Dates:
May 10th - May 12th
What to Expect:
The 2023 Volunteer Water Monitoring Training event will be held on May 10th-12th at the Flathead Lake Biological Station. Registration is now open at https://flbs.umt.edu/groups. Please register by 4/10/2023. Registration includes all meals and snacks, starting with dinner on Wednesday and ending with lunch on Friday and lodging at FLBS (check in Wed May 10th – check out Friday May 12th). Registration cost ranges from $260 - $305, depending on choice of lodging. Please register early to secure your preferred lodging type. Lodging only (no food) is also available for the nights of Tuesday May 9th and Friday May 12th for an additional fee.
Training topics will focus on field monitoring methods and peer learning to implement effective volunteer water monitoring programs. The training is intended for watershed coordinators, conservation districts, and others who develop, implement, and manage water monitoring programs throughout Montana. The two focused workshops offered on Wednesday afternoon are optional. The two focused workshops include; Starting a Volunteer Monitoring Project and Creating Rating Curves for Discharge. Please plan to arrive by 12:00pm if you plan to attend the Wednesday afternoon workshops. If participants are not attending the Wednesday afternoon workshops, please arrive by 5:00pm to register before dinner.
The training schedule is available here.
Lodging:
Lodging and all food (meals and snacks) will be included with the cost of registration. Registration (per person) will cost between $260 - $305 depending on choice of lodging.
There is additional lodging available Tuesday May 9th and Friday May 12th for additional cost, but no meals will be provided.
Monitoring Montana Waters is sponsoring one member of each volunteer monitoring group to attend the training for free (extra night stays on the 9th or 12th will not be covered by MMW). Please be prepared for only one member of each group to register under the free option.
Also, please register a maximum of 3 members of your watershed group for this training event to ensure that all interested groups will be able to participate. If slots remain open towards the end of the registration then we will allow more members from a single watershed group to attend (please let us know if your group is interested in having more than 3 members attend).
Trainings provided by:
Training will be provided by and is sponsored by FLBS Monitoring Montana Waters, Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and Montana State University Extension.
We look forward to joining together to share knowledge and network with others. Meals and evening socials will provide time for more informal interactions and time for folks to get to know one another better.
Contact us:
For questions about logistics and registration please contact Rachel Malison (rachel.malison@umontana.edu) or Jared Glass (jared.glass@flbs.umt.edu) at FLBS. Abbie Ebert (Abbie.Ebert@mt.gov) and Adam Sigler (asigler@montana.edu) can also answer questions about the training.
The organizing committee,
Rachel Malison, FLBS/MMW
Abbie Ebert, DEQ
Adam Sigler, MSU Extension