Environmental Field Skills Program – Lifetime Access

No, first aid training is not required to complete the course. Generally, basic first aid or wilderness first aid certifications are useful in environmental work.

You will need a notebook and access to online materials. A mirrored baseplate compass and a retractable tape measure are optional but recommended for gaining practical knowledge. They will be referenced in the relevant sections of the course. 

There is an ‘Support’ tab within your Course Home page. When you submit a question, it will be sent to the course instructors, who may respond via email or address it in a Zoom session. Feel free to use this form as often as needed! 

In Week 1, there is a specific Padlet link for introductions, and subsequent weeks will have Padlets for sharing your field experiences. Once the course starts, you can access the Week 1 Getting Started page to post a greeting and photo to connect with others. Additionally, there are two Facebook groups for instructors and both current and graduated students: Students of Natural Resources Training Group (NRTG) and NRTG Environmental Field Skills Career Choice Group. 

No. You can keep up by watching the live session recordings and sending in questions before the Q&A sessions. Please email your instructor if you will be missing a live session. They will help to support you in keeping up with the course content. 

Yes, there will be a different fieldwork activity assigned each week. Check the weekly course instructions to find out more. 

You can access course handouts and resources in the course menu, under ‘Learning Resources’.

To add missing files, go through the submission process again and upload all files that were not included in your first submission.  

Yes, it is always best practice to put your name on all submissions. 

The activity is not graded on artistic ability but on including the main components and correct labels into your drawing.  

We teach the core principles of the job here. While other places might use specific tools, methods, or approaches, the principles remain the same. 

Identify if your stress is from the course content or from feeling overwhelmed. If it’s content-related, contact an instructor for help – they are always willing to assist. Do not be afraid to make mistakes, making mistakes is a valuable part of your learning process. 

At the start of the course, any outdoor area will work. Later, you will need to locate specific areas, such as forests or water bodies, that will be mentioned in class. 

Include enough information in your notes at the field site so you can do the math or identify what you are documenting later; plant or animal identification and equations can be researched or solved indoors. 

The focus is not on the quantity of notes but on including all essential information to meet the criteria for the task. Be mindful of time management as well. 

No. Field notes are for observations and measurements in the field only. You may use different notes for additional information or calculations. Any adjustments to field notes should be appended and signed, without removing original information.  

Estimate first, then measure. This approach trains you to get better results. Estimation is also used when accurate measurements are challenging due to hazards or inaccessibility. 

Either unit system is acceptable as long as you use it consistently and include units. You can convert units later if needed. It is advised to become familiar with both systems, with the metric system being the global industry standard. 

Decimals should be rounded to the nearest accurate value. For example, ¹⁄₈ inch should be represented as 0.125 inch. Two decimal places are common, but always allow the data itself to be the guide. 

Take 10 steps, measure the total distance traveled, then divide that distance by 10. This will give you the average distance of one step. Keep this number in your field notebook to use for estimating instances through pacing and recheck it every season to confirm its accuracy. 

Use your best estimation, whether it’s half a pace or quarter of a pace. When using paces, you are not looking for exact measurements, so your best estimation will work. 

In any quadrat over 1 meter, you are better off averaging samples. Recall this example from the online module.

If you are approaching 50% coverage or more, it helps to estimate coverage by looking at how much sky or ground you can see and working backwards. Be sure to average both the overall area and individual plants, as they may appear larger than they are. Keep in mind that averaging is an estimation – practice with pictures to improve your skill and understand that it is not an exact science. There is no equation for calculating coverage. 

Yes. The exercises assume the use of a mirrored baseplate compass, but if you are familiar with other types of compasses, such as the lensatic compass, that will also work. The functions of the compass should include a sighting mechanism, adjustable bezel formatted with degrees, and, if possible, a declination adjustment. 

There are many methods for determining general direction of travel without a compass, such as the position of the sun, using an analog watch face, sundials, the moon and stars, and even observations of wildlife or vegetation. None will be accurate from a specific navigational perspective, but they can provide a general sense of direction. Be aware that some methods can be misleading and require some practice to get right. 

Find the center or a salient feature of the object that may be seen from several angles and estimate the distance to the edges from that point. 

Each map will have a specific declination noted in the margin. All bearings on that map will be adjusted to the same declination. This will generally change over time, so be sure to use the most updated maps available. 

Using a backshot verifies our measurements and confirms that our first bearing was correct. The backshot should always be 180 degrees from the forward bearing. 

There are two common uses of triangulation: resection and intersection. Using intersection, three different bearings from three different locations are recorded towards a point of interest that will have an overlapping area between these measurements. The location coordinates are where those three lines overlap. Using resection, bearings for three different locations are recorded from the observer’s position, and their resulting backbearings are then traced back to the specific location of the observer. 

The compass will still point to magnetic North, though the declinations can vary quite a bit depending on location. 

In dense or high vegetation cover, carefully run a string across the area for the line transect. A second person can be helpful, but if you are working alone, use two shovels to elevate the string off the vegetation and a plumb bob to weigh down the center of the line. 

Using a solid background, such as your field notebook or a piece of cardboard, is often the best way to get a clear picture. This will help separate the subject from other plants or objects that could obscure it. Also, make use of ambient light and avoid casting shadows over the subject. 

A drop of 4 meters is generally considered the standard height for a feature to be considered as a waterfall. 

If there are no water courses accessible to you, please inform the instructor so a hypothetical model or another substitute can be used as an approximation. 

If a company goes bankrupt, any unfinished work falls to the public trust and is funded through taxes. Often, there is insufficient money there, leading to the issue being ignored or inadequately addressed. To mitigate this, Reclamation Bonds are used. These bonds typically cover the cost required to reclaim 100% of the area that the company planned to remediate. The company must provide half of the bond amount before starting work and the remaining half at the start of the project. This ensures funds are available for reclamation in case the company declares bankruptcy. 

Your work starts when you leave the office so make sure you take thorough notes on travel time, time spent on-site, and any other relevant job-related details for future reference. 

Environmental impacts can be considered in many different contexts. For example, during wind turbine construction, it is important to consider the migratory patterns of birds and bats. Many studies are being conducted to determine the impact wind turbines have on habitats and ecosystems. 

NRTG instructor, Jason Cote, emphasized that building relationships is crucial in environmental monitoring. He believes that confronting people aggressively or enforcing rules harshly will lead to resistance and lack of cooperation. Instead, developing a positive rapport and a good reputation is essential for getting people to engage with environmental efforts and collaborate effectively throughout a project. 

There are several challenges that can vary depending on your situation. Trying to do the best work you can with limited resources (people, equipment, or training), working in uncomfortable weather conditions, or having to reschedule work due to the weather and site conditions are all challenges you may have to face when doing field work. 

The Environmental Field Skills Program provides you with the knowledge and skills to apply for entry-level positions that are typically field-based. Typical employers of people with these certificates include: consulting companies, non-profit organizations, and Indigenous communities. With this certificate you will be competitive to apply for environmental jobs that do not require (stated as a necessary requirement) a college or university diploma/degree.

To find your job, you must first decide what discipline (e.g., fish, wildlife, vegetation, forestry, mining) in the environmental field you wish to work in as that guides your job search. Search terms that would help to find appropriate jobs include:

In your search, include one item from the descriptor, one from the title, and one from the level. This will allow for a refined search and return of a small (i.e., manageable) number of hits. Then, try searching using a different title, then a different level. This approach should allow you to look for specific jobs without returning a thousand hits like you will get if you try “Environmental”.

Yes! You can list the course under the Education section of your resume and highlight any relevant skills acquired throughout your resume. Contact Sean Mitchell (sean@nrtraininggroup.com) if you require a reference letter from NRTG. 

Yes. Identify an upcoming EFS program of interest and notify support@nrtraininggroup.com well before the start date. We will do our best to create a seat for past NRTG students and coordinate your attendance during the program. All NRTG courses include free, lifetime certification. Enroll once – come back anytime. 

No, there is no requirement to recertify for this program. We recommend recertifying with NRTG if you have a significant break in your environmental monitoring fieldwork (e.g., four years or more). All NRTG courses include free, lifetime certification. Enroll once – come back anytime. 

Find an area that interests you. This is the base platform for learning a wide range of disciplines. From here you can pick one and pursue additional training. Talk to your instructors about what area(s) might be right for you. 

Your personal field gear should be adequate for the job, but the specifics may depend on the client’s requirements. Often if there is a higher standard set by the client, they will provide the required gear. It is recommended to gradually build your collection of equipment suitable for a range of jobs. 

NRTG instructor, Sam Mackay, shared that her initial job in groundwater management within the industry profoundly impacted her. She had to issue bottled water advisories to a community after a client’s negligence allowed petroleum to contaminate the groundwater, causing illness among residents, especially children. This experience, which left her deeply upset, motivated her to pursue a career in environmental monitoring to prevent such environmental disasters. 

NRTG instructor, Jason Cote, shared a story about how environmental monitoring had a significant impact on a project. He prevented a piece of equipment from crossing a riffle section of a water course, arguing that juvenile salmon might be present despite the skepticism of construction contractors. When they isolated the area and discovered 480 coho salmon in just 10 meters of the water course, it changed the construction contractor’s approach to environmental conservation for the rest of the project. Cote believes that these small victories in environmental monitoring are crucial for making broader changes in how construction projects handle environmental concerns.