Sargassum Drone Monitoring Protocol
SargAdapt: Adapting to a new reality: Managing responses to influxes of sargassum seaweed in the Eastern Caribbean as ecosystem hazards and opportunities
Sargassum Monitoring with Drones Course
Self-paced learning with video tutorials, interactive exercises, and case studies from real-world applications in the Caribbean.
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Understand the impact of sargassum influxes on coastal ecosystems and communities.
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Learn how to conduct drone-based sargassum monitoring using standardized flight plans and field protocols.
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Text length of indGain hands-on experience in data collection, processing, and visualization using DroneDeploy and GIS tools.ividual points can be shorter or longer depending on your needs
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Develop skills to analyze sargassum beaching trends and support environmental decision-making.
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Learn best practices for stakeholder collaboration and information sharing for regional sargassum monitoring.
Who Should Take This Course?
Join us and become part of a regional effort to improve sargassum monitoring and management using drone technology!
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Coastal and environmental managers
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Fisheries and marine conservation professionalsScientists, researchers, and students in environmental studies
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Scientists, researchers, and students in environmental studies
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Government agencies and NGOs focused on coastal resilience
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Entrepreneurs exploring sargassum valorization opportunities
Sargassum Drone Monitoring with Drones
A Practical Guide
Coastal regions across the Caribbean and West Africa have faced increasing challenges due to massive sargassum influxes, impacting ecosystems, fisheries, tourism, and local economies. The Sargassum Monitoring Protocol (SMP-Drones) provides a standardized, efficient, and accessible approach to quantifying and tracking sargassum stranding events using drone technology.
Dr. Kim Baldwin
Instructor Bio
As the Founder and Director of Marine Spatial Information Solutions (MarSIS) Inc., I’ve built a career around one core mission: empowering people to use participatory approaches together with drones & geospatial tools to make data-driven, real-world impact.
Through my Training Academy, I’ve taught hundreds of individuals and organizations how to safely & professionally operate drones, conduct drone mapping missions, collect accurate environmental data and analyze and share their results for agriculture, fisheries, conservation and disaster management. My Participatory-UAS approach brings together science, technology and collaboration — ensuring that every learner, regardless of background, can build confidence and contribute to smarter environmental decision-making.
Whether you’re an individual seeking new skills or an organization building technical capacity, my goal is to make drone technology accessible, practical and transformative. Together, we can learn how to use technology tools to help us protect our planet and strengthen the communities that depend on it.
Come Fly With Me Today!
It is recommended that you have previous drone flying & mapping experience
Course Prerequisites
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While enrollment is open to all, this course assumes prior flying and mapping experience. This is NOT an introductory course on drone mapping.
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You should have access to a mapping drone, hold a valid UAS license, can fulfill all drone flight requirements in your country and always apply flight safety procedures.
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You should have prior experience participating in national sargassum monitoring, management and/or research initiatives and access to a monitoring beach.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sargassum Monitoring Protocol Drone Training Course
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Do I need to have a mapping drone (or access to a mapping drone) to participate?
Yes at least one member of each team needs to have a mapping drone, legally licensed to fly and has been previously trained to fly safely and knows process/can obtain any government approvals for flight that may be required. If you are interested please just register above & we will coordinate groups for each project country and inform you once we see who enrolls, resources, etc.
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Will I be conducting sargassum fieldwork during the course?
Absolutely! The course will be delivered virtually over a month and includes a variety of self-paced multi-media lessons & supporting learning resources along with weekly Zoom sessions delivered via the Training Academy. Weekly lessons will be supplemented with corresponding practical work (both in-field beach surveys & computer-based). Participants should be willing to dedicate 1 day/week over month of this course and will need to arrange their own transportation to/from the monitoring beach.
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How much of the workload comprises drone flying?
Since all drone pilots participating are experienced flyers and have previously conducted drone mapping surveys we will not be discussing how fly drones or use drone mapping software. Trainees will learn how to develop beach monitoring site including supporting drone flight plans and beach field-surveys as well as how to handle, process and use this data to map and estimate the abundance of stranded sargassum.
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What if I am not located in a SargAdapt Project country or located outside of the Caribbean?
No worries - this training cohort will be available to anyone who wants to learn how to conduct the Sargassum Monitoring Protocol (drone & beach surveys). Feel free to register above and we will be sure to let you when the next cohort is starting.
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