Want to learn to look at the nature around you in a more informed and in-depth way? Join the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to be part of the City Nature Challenge, a citizen science project that you can participate in without leaving your yard.
In the past, cities and regions around the world have competed to document the largest amount of their local biodiversity, taking pictures and uploading them to iNaturalist. Various cities compete against each other, such as Cleveland and Pittsburgh with Pittsburg beating Cleveland in 2019 with more than a thousand more observations, 5,198 to 4,126. Neither came close to the winner, Cape Town South Africa, with 53,736 observations.
This year, however, they’re doing away with competition because of social distancing, so this year’s City Nature Challenge is just about the exploring and documenting.
“We want to embrace the collaborative aspect of sharing observations online with a digital community and celebrate the healing power of nature as people document their local biodiversity to the best of their ability,” says the project website. “In these challenging times, being outdoors and connecting with nature is a safe and responsible way to cope with stress, while maintaining the health of ourselves and our communities.”
To participle, download the iNaturalist app on your smartphone to join the City Nature Challenge 2020: Cleveland-Akron-Canton project.
From April 25-27, participants go out and take pictures of plants and animals; from April 28-May 3, they’ll work to identify what they saw. Go to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s City Nature Challenge page to learn more.