WHY WE LOVE INATURALIST

July 20, 2019

We use iNaturalist to document our efforts. Its an invaluable tool for us. if you don't know what iNaturalist is or if you are not sure why you should be using it read on.

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Wikipedia calls iNaturalist a citizen science project and online social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. 

iNaturalist may be accessed via its website or from its mobile applications (there is an android and iOS version). Observations recorded with iNaturalist provide valuable open data to scientific research projects, conservation agencies, other organizations, and the public. The project has been called "a standard-bearer for natural history mobile applications.

Working with iNaturalist you can upload images of creatures and plants and have the app identify them for you. When the apps artificial intelligence struggles to identify something it gets reviewed by experts and that way the database grows and our understanding of biodiversity grows with it.

Working with iNaturalist allows the data we collect to serve a larger purpose. It allows scientists to reference it and use in worldwide to understand many topics that require large amounts of data, for example, impact of climate change, overgrazing and invasive species on local flora and fauna.

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Here is a presentation on how to use iNaturalist in a BioBlitz. you can use it, just remember to give credit.