The Ecological Monitoring program is designed to give you an introduction to coral reef ecology and how to view the reef scientifically by assessing key biotic and abiotic reef components. The course teaches you how to use real world scientific sampling and reef survey techniques and certifies you to conduct your own surveys and report data back to the online database. Parameters assessed include fish and invertebrate abundance and biodiversity, substrate cover, coral taxonomy, coral diseases, coral bleaching, and more. This course is a prerequisite for many of the other courses offered by Conservation Diver.
Prerequisites
- Be 12 years of age or older
- Be certified as an Advanced diver under a leading diving organization (PADI, SSI, RAID, etc) or an Open Water diver who has satisfactorily completed a buoyancy appraisal with a professional diver
- Demonstrate proper diving ability at an advanced Level and be proficient in buoyancy and self-awareness
This course closely follows the Ecological Monitoring Program Manual. We advise those students who wish to continue with there learning within Research to purchase this manual in order to explore more in-depth intro topics as well as provide a review.
