Workshops FAQ

Do I need to be a guide / volunteer to attend?
The sessions are designed for those who have started guiding or are nature volunteers. You might find it useful if you intend to become a guide / volunteer. But the sessions will not provide general info about flora and fauna and thus is not likely to be useful for someone who just wants to learn more about our marine life / wildlife / biodiversity. To do this, join a guided walk!

I am a new guide / volunteer and don't know much. Will I be able to contribute?
Certainly! As a new guide / volunteer you will bring fresh perspective. Knowing less means you will be able to raise questions that ordinary people will ask. Thus helping us design approaches that better engage ordinary people.

I would like more content in the session.
There isn't much time, and from previous experience, content-heavy lectures don't really result in guides knowing more. We are taking this brain-storming approach in the hope of filling the important gap between knowing facts and sharing them in a way that ordinary people find interesting and engaging. To improve knowledge, self-study spurred by personal interest is the best way. As a content-heavy resource, the wildsingapore fact sheets have been developed to provide information for guides and those who want to know more about our marine life (http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/)

What does by donation mean?
There are costs to be covered to provide this event, mainly rental of the room and admin costs. This means that you can pay any amount you are comfortable with. We hope if everyone contributes what they can, it will add up to just enough to cover the costs. If the donations exceed the costs, we will keep the extra money. Hopefully this will allow us to pay for specialists to give lectures on specialised subjects.

Why is the focus on taxonomic groups? Instead of by habitat or other topics?
Understanding the basics of a taxonomic group is extremely helpful for guides who face a wide variety of animals which they may not know enough about. General features of the group can then be shared. During the workshop, the habitat distribution and other aspects of the taxonomic group will also be covered, e.g., feeding, reproduction, distribution.