Training Opportunities
Current Training Opportunities
Invasive Plant Atlas of the Mid-South Volunteer Training Workshop
Date: December 4, 2009
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Cost: FREE
The Invasive Plant Atlas of the MidSouth (IPAMS) is a program designed to train volunteers to identify important invasive plant species, learn about using the on-line database to enter plant locations, and provide information on the management of these species. During the four-hour workshop, participants will learn to identify forty different invasive plant species, use the IPAMS webpage and database, Early Detection and Rapid Response steps for reporting and managing invasive plants, and an introduction to identifying your location from a GPS or GIS mapping function. Data derived from volunteers will be used to target the management of these invasive species. Each participant will be provided a training manual, species fact sheets, and identification cards for the forty species.
To register for the class, contact Patty Rogers at 601-528-5133 or patty.rogers@ms.usda.gov.
Responsible Site Design: Implementing Innovative Post-Construction Stormwater Management StrategiesDate: December 10, 2009
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Cost: FREE
What does the future
of stormwater management look like at the site scale? What design criteria
are needed to support innovative stormwater management and site design
approaches? How do you identify potential retrofit sites and what practices
can be designed and implemented on those sites to improve stormwater
management? If you and others within your company, agency, or department
face these and other challenging stormwater questions, you need to attend
this informative workshop!
Instructors from Mississippi
State Universityâs Department of Landscape Architecture will provide
information on effective stormwater management paying special attention
to innovative site design practices and retrofit strategies that can
be used to improve the performance of existing infrastructure and practices.
Workshop content will include a discussion of the impact of land use
codes on stormwater management, enhancing local ordinances, and mitigating
the effects of stormwater on-site. Participants should be prepared to
spend the afternoon in the field evaluating existing sites in Jackson
County and making recommendations to improve stormwater management based
on the concepts covered in the workshop. Certificates of attendance
will be provided at the conclusion of the event.
Target audiences for this event include stormwater managers, planners, environmental consultants, public works officials, elected officials, and regulatory personnel.
This is a FREE event! To register for this workshop, please complete the registration form (see page 2 of the brochure), and fax it to Marian Hanisko at 228-475-8097. The deadline for registration is Friday December 4, 2009.
Habitat Priority PlannerDate: January 5, 2010
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Cost: $25
This course is a computer-based
GIS training on how to apply the Habitat Priority Planner tool to land-use
management, conservation, and restoration projects. After completing
this course, participants will be able to:
Develop their own spatial analysis process, including defining goals, collecting data, performing analyses, and selecting criteria;
Use common land cover data sets to classify habitats with the Habitat Priority Planner;
Understand and be able to apply landscape and custom analyses available in theHabitat Priority Planner; and,
Prioritize habitats
for land use management action
Prerequisites
Intermediate experience with ESRI ArcView 9.2 or 9.3
To register for the class,
click here and follow the instructions in the flyer.
Date: January 27-28, 2010
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Cost: $150
Purpose
This class is designed
to give participants experience with hydric soil evaluation using both
field indicators and the latest monitoring technologies. Participants
will spend a large portion of the class in the field where they will
gain hands-on experience with soil description, identification of hydric
soil field indicators, and installation of monitoring equipment.
Objectives
Get a thorough introduction to the concepts of hydric soils including wetland chemistry, redoximorphic features, field indicators, wetland
hydrology, and problem situations;
Learn how to complete soil profile descriptions that are detailed enough to identify the USDA hydric soil indicators; and
Be able to implement
the USDA-NRCS and Corp of Engineersâ Technical Standards confirming
hydric soils, monitoring soil hydrology, interpreting rainfall data,
relating hydric soil field indicators to groundwater characteristics
and evaluating sites with altered hydrology.
Target Audiences
Forestry Professionals
Mitigation Bank Managers
Natural Resource Managers
State and Federal Regulators
Wetland Professionals and Consultants
To register for the class, click here and follow the instructions in the flyer.
Upcoming Training Opportunities