Join Us! 2025 Kelp Forest Monitoring Trainings Now Open!

Reef Check’s Kelp Forest Monitoring training classes for 2025 are now open for registration. There are six opportunities in California, Oregon and Washington for divers to get involved as citizen scientists along the West Coast. Oregon will also be hosting three restoration trainings for those wanting to assist with kelp forest restoration.

The Reef Check Kelp Forest Monitoring Training course is designed to provide participants with the skills and experience to complete the Reef Check Kelp Forest Monitoring survey protocol accurately. In addition to direct survey methods, the training will address safe diving practices, techniques of research diving, sampling design and theory, general marine ecology including species identification and interactions, and the importance of monitoring to meet marine management needs. Training includes a combination of online and in-person training, recorded lectures and at-home work, and in-person ocean field sessions. Following completion of the training, all participants will have the skills necessary to complete the training examination, allowing them to collect data and become eligible to obtain a Reef Check Kelp Forest Monitoring Specialty Certification (NAUI).

For a list of course prerequisites and to sign up, visit our registration page at: https://www.reefcheck.org/kelp-forest-program/training-schedule/

If you have been previously trained as a Reef Checker, you can sign up for a recertification class to get ready for the upcoming survey season at http://calendar.reefcheck.org.