Dr. David Coyle, Assistant Professor for Forest Health and Invasive Species, his post-doctoral student Dr. Molly Darr, and the Forestry and Natural Resources team hosted a five-part invasive plant management webinar series the week of June 15. The series was originally scheduled to be two in-person events in March. “Normally, it’s difficult to teach people about invasive plant management without being in the field, but the combination of different electronic materials, such as the daily live presentations and the recorded videos, made for a very effective week of instruction,” stated Dr. David Coyle. Dr. Darr added, “When our workshops were canceled due to COVID-19 at the end of March, we were given a rare opportunity. The workshop itineraries originally relied heavily on field demonstrations, and we wanted to find a way to condense this material so it could be easily understood when delivered through a digital platform. Our team of collaborators rose to the challenge, and through live presentations, recorded videos, and PowerPoints, we effectively communicated the material so attendees could receive valuable information and continuing education and pesticide credits that are essential to their work.” A total of forty-three participants enrolled in the series which was provided through Zoom.
The first session of the series covered pesticide basics, including reading a pesticide label and the use of commonly available herbicides for invasive plant management. The second session of the series began with pesticide safety, followed by a presentation from Amber Starnes and Brittany Flowers with the Livestock and Forages Team on the use of small livestock to control invasive vegetation. The identification of and management methods for common woody trees and shrubs, grasses, and herbaceous vegetation was presented during the third and fourth sessions. Demonstrating the treatment options for invasive plants that had been planned during the field tour portion of the original workshops was done by filming treatment techniques and key target species that would have been highlighted on the field tour. FNR team members Cory Heaton, Jaime Pohlman, Stephen Pohlman, and Janet Steele located sites at the Sandhills REC and on private forestland in Edgefield and Calhoun County that could be used for the filming. A total of eight videos ranging from two minutes to five minutes in length were produced by Jaime Pohlman. These videos, which demonstrated mechanical invasive species control, sprayer set-up and calibration, and herbicide application methods in different forested systems, were shown during the final session.
The daily Zoom sessions were recorded and made available to any registered participants to watch at a later time if they missed a session or needed to have access to another computer due to home or work internet capabilities. The FNR team created a daily quiz using Qualtrics that was posted at the end of each webinar session for participants to complete if they were registered for pesticide recertification or continuing forestry education credits, verifying their daily participation. FNR team member, Parker Johnson, participated in the webinar each day to move participants out of the Zoom “waiting room,” to provide technical support and to monitor the chat box for questions to the presenters.
Dr. Darr, who developed an evaluation for the webinar series, remarked that “Audience reviews were unanimously positive, and folks continue to benefit from the packet of educational materials and presentations made available for download after the webinar series concluded. We will continue to refine these distance learning strategies as we develop more virtual programming in the future. We expect the increased accessibility of remote workshops will allow more people to be reached at a decreased cost and will help improve Clemson Cooperative Extension’s overall impact in the public sector.”
Submitted by: Janet Steele, Area Forestry and Wildlife Agent
