Training Workshop

I’ve been a little distracted from blogging this week because I had to prepare and deliver a 2-day workshop for 20 watershed managers at the Ranong Aquaculture Field Office. Until last night (the night before the start of the workshop!), I only had a vague sense of what I would be presenting. This largely stemmed from the difficulty involved in coordinating Amrit and Kevins’ busy schedules during their short time here. They really left things to the last minute and assured me that it would be fine -- the nature of their work requires an ability to work on the fly. Consequently I had to pull an all-nighter to refresh my knowledge of statistical site selection methods and sampling design among other topics. By 6:00am this morning had I barely managed to finish putting together all my slides before handing them over to Kevin so he could add them to the master presentation. Operating on no sleep I somehow managed to get through the first day of this workshop. It is 3:00pm and Kevin and I have been instructing and facilitating since 9:00am this morning (He is finishing up his last session as I write this). I am exhausted, but to be honest I kind of enjoyed this stressful little fire drill. It was somehow satisfying to prepare and deliver a presentation on the spot and I feel like we did a great job. The participants seem engaged and are asking tons of questions. Plus, I have been able to acquire a lot of valuable information from them that will prepare me for my research here.

Top: Chris and Thai watershed managers

Bottom: Conducting a GPS/YSI field module

It is an interesting thing to give a lecture to a group of people through a translator. Often I felt simultaneously comforted and frustrated by the long pauses as I had to wait for the translator to convey my thoughts to the audience. Thankfully the difficult part of the workshop is over now. Tomorrow I will conduct a GPS field module and help Chris demonstrate the new YSI meter (it measures pH, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, ammonium, and depth). Then we will spend the afternoon demonstrating the applicability of GIS to watershed management and finally the workshop will be OVER! I feel as though I jumped off that plane in Bangkok, hit the ground running and have been sprinting to catch up ever since (Some analogy with a pot and a fire, or maybe some kind of kettle springs to mind, but I am too tired to get it right in my head for the moment). I am so looking forward to relaxing a little and taking some time to regroup once Kevin and Amrit leave on Friday. I haven’t even moved into my new house yet (I’m not even sure they’ve decided where to put me!). Not that I’m not enjoying my temporary stay at the fancy Princess Hotel in Ranong…. I’m really looking forward to a swim and a good night’s sleep when I get back tonight.

Update: The workshop is over and it went really well! We got positive feedback from nearly everyone!




Sunset over Burma (in the background): A relaxing dinner on the Andaman Sea to celebrate the end of a successful workshop.