City Nature Challenge 2017

Fence lizard, photo by Calibas - own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2967183

Western fence lizard (photo by Calibas)

Attention Citizen Scientists!

There’s a inter-city challenge taking place over April 14-18 which asks you to go out and document as much nature as you can over those days using smart phones and the iNaturalist app.

Participating cities include: Los Angeles (County) and San Francisco (and surrounding counties) include Austin, Boston, Chicago (Cook County), Dallas/Fort Worth, Duluth/Twin Ports, Houston, Miami (Miami-Dade County), Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New York, Raleigh, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and the Washington, D.C., Metro Area. 

Which city has the best nature sleuths? Which will record the most species?

If your city isn’t on the list, tell them to get on it next year! Last year’s challenge was only between LA County and the Bay Area (LA won), so the competition is growing fast. And heck, even if your city isn’t participating this year, there’s nothing to stop you from getting together with your friends and doing an iNaturalist survey a bit of your hometown and see what you find.

Some linkages for more explanation:

What’s in the Dirt? by the Daily Breeze

City Nature Challenge via the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum website

Last year’s competition results via The California Academy of Sciences website

iNaturalist

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4 Comments

  1. Can’t believe my city – San Diego – isn’t participating. Must get involved for next year.

    • You guys should do an unofficial survey — like a flash mob and picnic on the beach or something fun like that! Then poke the folks at the natural history museum — the museums seem to be the main coordinators of this thing.

  2. With this challenge, I think it would make everyone who registered his city to be a scientist too. Are these all citizens or only a few people who are pedants?

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