Marvellous Molluscs: Tentacle Tales and Shell Stories

This is the 12th in a series of upcoming monthly workshops by The Leafmonkey Workshop for existing nature guides and those interested in becoming nature guides.

Date: 11 December 2009, Friday
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: Civil Service College [Map]
31 North Buona Vista Road Singapore 275983

What is this workshop about?
Molluscs include commonly encountered snails and clams. Our other favourite molluscs are octopuses and 'sotong' (squids and cuttlefishes). What they are? What are their roles and adaptations? Can eat or not? How to find molluscs and handle (or not handle) them in the field. Find out in this brief introduction to molluscs for nature guides.

This workshop is likely to be more useful for those who have already started guiding and who have some basic knowledge of molluscs. The workshop is not intended to replace self-study and practical experience in the field. For more details about molluscs, see the wildsingapore fact sheets.

SPEAKER

Ria Tan, WildSingapore
Ria is the author of the Chek Jawa Guidebook as well as the WildSingapore series of websites. She can be found at every low tide visiting almost every piece of shoreline in Singapore. She can be found writing at the WildShores blog as well.

PLEASE REGISTER AT
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=px2COHxHF_2c0f3KpjH60EA

Registration is strongly advised as it allows us to better customize the workshop to suit YOUR needs! If you have difficulty submitting your registration on this website, please email us at


CLOSING DATE
Please register by 7 December 2009.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Click here to read more about the workshop objectives, aims and purpose. If you are not sure if the workshop is suitable for you, read here to find out more.

WORKSHOPS FAQ
Please read the workshop FAQ which aims to answer any of your other burning questions.

COST OF WORKSHOP
Participation is by donation and participants are free to pay whatever they are comfortable with.. What does this mean?

PROGRAM
7.00pm - Registration, Networking, Bring your own Dinner!
7.30pm - 30 minutes of background content
8.00pm - Workshop discussion and group presentations.
9.30pm - End of workshop

REGISTER NOW!

Nature Bloggers 2.0 - Level Up!

This is the 11th in a series of upcoming monthly workshops by The Leafmonkey Workshop for existing bloggers interested in blogging for nature.

Date: 25 November 2009, Wednesday
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: Civil Service College [Map]
31 North Buona Vista Road Singapore 275983

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
After the successful run of blogging for nature workshops last year, The Leafmonkey Workshop is bringing back our blogging workshops. This workshop is for those who already have a blog and wish to know how to improve their blogs for more effective nature outreach.

Some of the topics covered in this workshop include:
1) How can I improve my blog's design and readability?
2) How should I structure my blog?
3) How can I reach out to more readers?
4) How do I integrate with other social media tools like twitter/facebook?
5) What should I know about copyright, ethics and etiquette?

Be prepared to work hard, have fun, make new friends and definitely learn new ways of looking at guiding and our wild places. This is a great opportunity to meet the faces behind the nature blogs that you always read and learn from other bloggers. Exchange ideas and experiences on blogging for nature!

PARTICIPANT REQUIREMENTS
To participate in this workshop, you must have:
1) A regularly updated blog
2) Interest in blogging for nature outreach
3) Interest in exchanging blog ideas and experience with others
4) A laptop with wifi capabilities that you MUST bring to the workshop

SPEAKER
November Tan
November Tan is the author of the Midnight Monkey Monitor blog which was listed as Blogger’s Blog of Note in 2007. A self-confessed social media addict, she spends her off days testing new social media platforms and cooking up new projects. She currently coordinates workshops for nature volunteers under the initiative known as The Leafmonkey Workshop which has a popular blogging workshop series which she facilitates.

PLEASE REGISTER AT
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=px2COHxHF_2c0f3KpjH60EA

Registration is strongly advised as it allows us to better customize the workshop to suit YOUR needs! If you have difficulty submitting your registration on this website, please email us at


CLOSING DATE
Please register by Friday, 20 November 2009.

WORKSHOPS FAQ
Please read the workshop FAQ which aims to answer any of your other burning questions.

COST OF WORKSHOP
Participation is by donation and participants are free to pay whatever they are comfortable with. What does this mean?

PROGRAM
7.00pm - Registration & Networking
7.30pm - Presentations on Blogging Strategies
8.30pm - Hands on practice & Ideas Sharing Session!
9.30pm - End of workshop

REGISTER NOW!

The Naked Truth & Other Sluggish Affairs Recapped

Date: 2 October 2009 (Friday)
Venue: Civil Service College
Participants: Nature guides and prospective nature guides
Facilitators: Ria Tan, November Tan and Chen Jinwen
Guest Speaker: Toh Chay Hoon

With a title like “The Naked Truth and Other Sluggish Affairs”, you know you can expect a workshop filled with either laughter or ennui.

Not surprisingly, it was the former that featured prominently throughout. Jokes (only a few R-rated) abounded and the antics of sporting participants acting like slugs provided much cause for joy.

Before the workshop began, we were intrigued by a variety of clay sea slugs modeled by the guest speaker, Chay Hoon. To the non-initiated, many of these slugs looked like other-worldly creatures, or “something my cat threw up”. But they were just a few examples of the fascinating marine life found in Singapore and the rest of the world.

Is it just me, or do they really look better than the sushi?

As always, November started the workshop with a short presentation. Chay Hoon then introduced us to the world of sea slugs. We learnt to differentiate sea slugs from other confusing creatures, identify them, and understand their various behavioural traits. It was a very informative session, though at the end we all wished we were out on the shores instead, so that Chay Hoon could expertly point out those miniscule slugs that few human eyes can see.

Paying rapt attention

The learning over, it was time to put our knowledge into good use. First up was the Slugs Charades! This was the opportunity for us to get wild, literally, and behave like slugs do. It was well taken, as many of us unleashed our primal side, and displayed our rhinophores and aggressive sluggish behaviour.


A slug with 2 human cerata

Scary slugs terrorizing their innocent counterparts

Finally, we concluded the workshop with groups ‘guiding’ some feared kinds of visitors. Amidst the annoying shrieks of pesky kids, and strange questions from aunties and uncles intent on getting their time’s worth, we managed to convey the message of conservation and appreciation of Singapore’s biodiversity.

The Naked Truth & Other Sluggish Affairs

This is the 10th in a series of upcoming monthly workshops by The Leafmonkey Workshop for existing nature guides and those interested in becoming nature guides.

Date: 2 October 2009, Friday
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: Civil Service College [Map]
31 North Buona Vista Road Singapore 275983

What is this workshop about?
This workshop introduces the Sea Slugs of Singapore's shores and waters. Learn about their ecology, food, sex and where about to find them.

SPEAKER

Toh Chay Hoon
Chay Hoon is a volunteer guide at Chek Jawa and the Sensory Trail (both at Pulau Ubin and Pulau Semakau). She is also a volunteer diver with ReefFriends (reef survey) of Blue Water Volunteers. She blogs at Colouful Clouds.

PLEASE REGISTER AT
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=px2COHxHF_2c0f3KpjH60EA

Registration is strongly advised as it allows us to better customize the workshop to suit YOUR needs! If you have difficulty submitting your registration on this website, please email us at


CLOSING DATE
Please register by 28 September 2009.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Click here to read more about the workshop objectives, aims and purpose. If you are not sure if the workshop is suitable for you, read here to find out more.

WORKSHOPS FAQ
Please read the workshop FAQ which aims to answer any of your other burning questions.

COST OF WORKSHOP
Participation is by donation and participants are free to pay whatever they are comfortable with.. What does this mean?

PROGRAM
7.00pm - Registration, Networking, Bring your own Dinner!
7.30pm - 30 minutes of background content
8.00pm - Workshop discussion and group presentations.
9.30pm - End of workshop

REGISTER NOW!

Pulau Ubin Stories: History and Geography Workshop

This is the 9th in a series of upcoming monthly workshops by The Leafmonkey Workshop for existing nature guides and those interested in becoming nature guides.

Date: 3 July 2009, Friday
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: Civil Service College [Map]
31 North Buona Vista Road Singapore 275983

What is this workshop about?
This workshop provides an introduction to the history and geography of Pulau Ubin through the sharing of stories.



















SPEAKER
November Tan
November is a graduate student in the Department of Geography at NUS as well as an active nature guide on Pulau Ubin amongst others. 3 generations of her family traces their roots back to Pulau Ubin and she traces hers on Pulau Ubin Stories, a blog which archives the stories old and new on Pulau Ubin. She did her undergraduate honors thesis on "Saving Chek Jawa: Social Capital and Networks in Nature Conservation". She has also authored several heritage trails publications for the National Heritage Board. She currently coordinate workshops for nature guides at The Leafmonkey Workshop and writes at the Midnight Monkey Monitor.

PLEASE REGISTER AT
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=px2COHxHF_2c0f3KpjH60EA

Registration is strongly advised as it allows us to better customize the workshop to suit YOUR needs! If you have difficulty submitting your registration on this website, please email us at


CLOSING DATE
Please register by 28 June 2009.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Click here to read more about the workshop objectives, aims and purpose. If you are not sure if the workshop is suitable for you, read here to find out more.

WORKSHOPS FAQ
Please read the workshop FAQ which aims to answer any of your other burning questions.

COST OF WORKSHOP
Participation is by donation and participants are free to pay whatever they are comfortable with.. What does this mean?

PROGRAM
7.00pm - Registration, Networking, Bring your own Dinner!
7.30pm - 30 minutes of background content
8.00pm - Workshop discussion and group presentations.
9.30pm - End of workshop

REGISTER NOW!