Learning tools and techniques from each other

This past Tuesday, I attended ALLARM’s Data Interpretation workshop. It was specifically for Cumberland County Stream Team volunteers. Here at UMCES, we also provide Data Interpretation workshops for the CMC throughout the watershed.  So, it was a great opportunity for us to learn new techniques and ways to work with volunteer monitors that we haven’t previously done. Beyond the wonderful things we learned, it was a fun workshop! The ALLARM team is full of energy and the volunteers were engaged and complimentary of the workshop.

As I attended, I jotted down the tips and tricks that I learned from the workshop:

1. Provide the HISTORY of why we’re monitoring.
2. Put the data into CONTEXT – geology, land use, population, etc.
3. Show data RESULTS and crowdsource why data may show certain patterns.
4. EXPLAIN the data plots clearly.
5. Put it all together into a watershed SUMMARY.
6. End with NEXT STEPS so participants know there will be follow up!

I know I’ll be using these techniques and more insights I learned from the workshop in future trainings around the Chesapeake watershed!