Invasive Species Removal - Japanese Knotweed
New conservation volunteers show up eager to pull weeds. With most invasive plants, enthusiasm is an asset. With Japanese knotweed, enthusiasm applied incorrectly makes the infestation worse.
I built this short module for volunteers to explore the four steps they should take to remove Japanese knotweed:
Identify the weed
Assess the patch and create a plan
Act
Safely dispose fragments
The short module is designed to cover each step in sequential order while describing branching options where a decision needs to be made. This mimicks the steps each volunteer takes in the field.
Tools
Articulate Storyline
Problem
Volunteers spend little time prior to going onsite to learn and can cause them to turn away from helping out. However, training is necessary for proper identification, removal, and disposal. Not knowing the correct way to handle this invasive plant leads to worse outcomes than not doing anything at all.
Solution
This module focuses on how volunteers should approach their task and why it’s so important they do it this way. It is designed to follow the same sequential steps volunteers take in the field in order to safely remove Japanese knotweed, starting with identifying the plant and ending with proper disposal.
The risk of volunteer drop-off due to extensive training is an obstacle that can be circumvented by keeping the module short and focused. While there is a tradeoff, the benefits of some training far outweigh the risks of accidentally propagating the weed.
Evaluation
To measure the impact of this module, I can identify content issues early by measuring users’ reaction with:
A post-module confidence rating for overall readiness
An open ended question on what felt unclear to identify specific content issues
For longer term success, data should be gathered on each volunteer’s first session. First time volunteers pair up with others who have more experience, who can record:
The percentage of plants misidentified out of all plants identified and tagged as Japanese knotweed
Compliance with disposal guidelines
Next Steps
Build seasonal variants to account for different physical characteristics
Analyze metrics to determine whether training measurably impacts successful removal of Japanese knotweed and continue iterating on the module
Create a short field guide with the four step procedure as a checklist to help volunteers remember their training