Learn how to monitor rockweed at a training session at Reid State Park on Oct. 2. Kennebec Estuary Land Trust

The Schoodic Institute and Kennebec Estuary Land Trust will host a training session at Reid State Park in Georgetown on Saturday, Oct. 2 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. regarding how to gather information on rockweed at sites along the coast.

The monitoring program is geared toward middle school-aged children and older. The fieldwork will include walking over slippery rocks and seaweed during low tide.  At each site, participants gather information about the height, weight and number of rockweed stems at a series of points in the intertidal zone.

Rockweed monitoring takes place between June and October each year.

The training will introduce volunteers to rockweed and other common coastal seaweed species.  Participants will also help gather new information about rockweed at Reid State Park.  After participants are done with the training, the land trust will have equipment they can borrow to monitor rockweed at other sites along the coast.

Rockweed is the most common seaweed species that you see along Maine’s rocky coast, according to the trust.  It provides important habitat and also provides income in coastal communities where it is harvested.

For more information and to sign-up, visit kennebecestuary.org/upcoming-events or call (207) 442-8400.