On September 25, ALLARM conducted a virtual training workshop for members of the Johnston’s Run Revitalization Council (JRRC). The goal of the workshop was to teach volunteers how to upload the data they collect directly into the Chesapeake Data Explorer (a centralized data repository) instead of them uploading the data into a google sheet, and ALLARM uploading their data into the Data Explorer.
Ben: This semester, I have spent a lot of time in the office working with the Chesapeake Data Explorer and getting very familiar with the website, so the information in this event was not new to me, but this was my first community event with ALLARM, and it was a great place to start.
With all the time I had spent in the Data Explorer, I had personally thought that the website was very user friendly and easy to use, however, I was not sure if this sentiment would be shared by the volunteers attending the event. I was very excited to see that the volunteers caught on quickly when working through the steps.
This event was a great experience for me to be able to connect with volunteers. I was amazed at how excited and engaged the volunteers were in the event, which just shows how amazing ALLARM’s volunteers are.
Naisha: This training session was my first outreach event with ALLARM, and it was the perfect way to see the organization’s goals at work.
I have not had much experience with the Chesapeake Data Explorer yet, so I enjoyed learning about how the database works alongside the volunteers. The data entry process is very user friendly, and the volunteers also found it straightforward themselves. It’s always exciting when the volunteers feel this way aboutthe data collection, upload and interpretation process.
I really appreciated getting to meet some of the volunteers, and it was evident how much they value ALLARM’s help and want to do all they can on their end to make the job easier for ALLARM. It is so wonderful to interact with people who are taking action to make a difference in their community!
By providing training workshops on the data upload process for volunteers like those in the JRRC, ALLARM can further support community members to not only monitor, but also analyze their local stream health, and we are so excited to be a part of this mission! This will help the volunteers be even more involved in the whole process and give even more power to the awesome work that they do.
