FieldSchool
The FieldKit FieldSchool
FieldKit started out making technology, but we quickly learned that just providing the tools isn’t always enough. Developing an effective monitoring program involves considerations beyond just putting the sensor in the field. This realization led us to create FieldSchool.
What is FieldSchool?
FieldSchools are 1-2 day workshops that give you the opportunity to bring together all the stakeholders in your project: researchers and conservationists, local and government organizations, and community members and citizen scientists. It combines classroom education with hands-on deployment assistance and can be customized to your project and audience needs and aptitudes. We have taught FieldSchools in English and Spanish, in the United States and in the Amazon River Basin in Colombia and Peru.
Why FieldSchool?
We have found that projects launched alongside a FieldSchool have been more successful, communities have been more engaged, and the stations deployed are still returning data months and even years later. Increasing the number of people trained in the why and how of the technology leads to more success for the project over time. FieldSchools create opportunities for collaboration across organizations and specialties. This, in turn, builds a more informed and empowered segment of the public and a larger, community-integrated volunteer workforce to gather data in a repeatable fashion.
The FieldSchool Curriculum
Topics covered include:
Environmental Sensing Principles
The temporal, environmental, hydrological, and geospatial factors to consider when deploying a sensor array
Project Parameters
What the project proposes to measure and why these parameters matter
Best Practices
Ensuring the success of your sensing project from deployment to maintenance and beyond
Next Steps
Tips for data gathering and interpretation, as well as engaging the community around the project and its data
…and more.
We can adjust the curriculum to fit your group size and demographics, ensuring that everyone’s needs are met.
