Master Oyster Gardener Course
VIMS / Virginia Sea Grant and the Tidewater Oyster Gardeners Association (TOGA) are offering the Master Oyster Gardeners Course (MOG) May – June, 2022
This is an in-depth course for oyster gardeners with at least 1-year experience and who want to take a deeper dive and use their knowledge to participate in TOGA’s outreach mission through volunteer service.
Atendees will learn more about oyster gardening fundamentals; oyster biology and life history; oyster diseases; the various “critters” that live in and around oyster gardens; and the regulatory and human health issues surrounding oyster gardening. Attendees will also get a start-to-finish look at the oyster cultivation process at the VIMS oyster hatchery.
The first MOG course was held in 1998 and graduated nineteen enthusiastic MOGs. The 2021 MOG course had the largest class (26) and the first to test out the virtual format which was so successful it has been adopted as the format moving forward.
The upcoming MOG course content will be delivered in 1-hour modules held virtually via Zoom on Tue/Thur evenings at 6:00 pm beginning May 10 and continuing through June 9, 2022. There will be two, in-person activities scheduled on a Saturday (tentatively May 14 and June 11). Applicants are expected to have the availability to attend most, if not all, sessions as the discussions will be an important part of the course. The MOG course purpose is to provide a steady stream of highly trained volunteers who can lead TOGA’s outreach mission.
APPLY ONLINE
Online applications will be accepted until April 8, 2022.
Contact Karen Hudson with questions.