Have you ever seen a flower, tree, bird, mushroom, or insect and wished you knew what it was? Well, now you can find out with iNaturalist! This online platform allows you to tap into a global community of naturalists, biologists, and other nature enthusiasts to help you learn about nearly any organism under the sun. It’s also a tool that’s often used in citizen science projects like bioblitzes to create snapshots of what species are living in an area at any given time.
Bring a laptop computer or a smartphone, and a few digital pictures of organisms that you’ve taken for the hands-on portion of the workshop.
These workshops will be on Thursday, July 14, 21, and 28 from 6-7:30 pm, and will lead up to a bioblitz at the north side of Lake Merritt on July 16 and a bioblitz at the south side of Lake Merritt on July 30 to document the biodiversity in the newly opened tidal channel!
You do not need to come to all 3 iNat 101 workshops, as the content for all 3 will be generally the same. The iNat workshops are not required to attend the bioblitzes, though they are recommended if you're unfamiliar with it.
The full schedule is as follows- click on the event links for more details.
- Sat, July 30 @ 10 am - 2:30 pm = Lake Merritt Bioblitz: Part 2 (South Side, meet @ OPL Main Branch)
Come and join California Center for Natural History (CCNH) for this fun and informal introduction to citizen science! CCNH is a non-profit, Oakland-based organization that provides natural history education to adults and families.
This is a FREE event! $20 suggested donation.
Please RSVP using the form below. Drop-ins welcome!
A big thanks to the Oakland Main Library for partnering with CCNH for these trainings and the south-side bioblitz!