A new way to help biodiversity

What's happening: It’s incredible to see how community members are joining forces as citizen scientists and driving advancements in biodiversity sciences through an app you might know about: iNaturalist. Here’s how you can participate, too.

On the surface, iNaturalist may seem like a fun app (which it is) to record the flora and fauna around you. But in reality, it’s much more than that. As a user, you could be a part of the community that highlights a new species almost every month!

Consider the case of the #ToiletWeasel. When an iNaturalist user in the Colombian Andes photographed a strange animal that had wandered into a cabin bathroom, they unknowingly captured the first-ever photographs of a living Colombian weasel. The scientific community rejoiced, and the unlikely discovery briefly took over social media.

Simply downloading the app and creating an account sets you up to start capturing images of the flora and fauna around you. The “My Observations” tab is home to all your captures. You don’t need to know the name to save an entry; the app uses Computer Vision (AI) to suggest what it might be based on your photo and your GPS location.

Tip: If you’re ambitious, join a BioBlitz – a communal effort to find and identify as many species as possible in an area over a short period. These events are usually organized by fellow observers in your area. Check the app’s “Nearby” tab inside “Projects.”

The volume of entries via iNaturalist is so immense that the majority of tracking data for most species on Earth is now sourced directly from the app. Scientific communities can access these hundreds of millions of user-generated images and keep a real time pulse on the shifting dynamic of life on earth. You can always contribute, while protecting your geoprivacy in the app settings.