City Nature Challenge 2017
Hello!
The Natural History Museum of Utah is leading a Wasatch Front team to participate in the City Nature Challenge, a national celebration of citizen science and urban biodiversity. Between April 14 and April 18, cities across the country will be competing to make as many iNaturalist observations as possible. You can see the full list of cities here: http://www.calacademy.org/citizen-science/city-nature-challenge. Some of the cities participating are heavy hitters, like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, but they can't compete with the amazing nature along the Wasatch Front. Join NHMU on a citizen science quest to showcase our rich biodiversity in the City Nature Challenge 2017: The Wasatch Front. You can learn more on the NHMU website (https://nhmu.utah.edu/challenge) or check out our project page in iNaturalist (http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2017-the-wasatch-front).
I’ve tagged you in this journal post because you’ve been an active observer in one of the four counties included in our Wasatch Front project. I hope you’ll participate in this year’s City Nature Challenge. While we know getting observations from as many people as we can is important, we also know that it’s active iNat observers like you that will really push us ahead in the number of observations made and especially the number of species found along the Wasatch Front!
The easiest way to join in is to just make as many observations of as many species as possible in Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, and Weber Counties between April 14 and 18. Helping with IDs will also increase our species number, so that’s a great way to help out as well. And of course, spread the word!
In the spirit of friendly competition, NHMU has joined forces with Thanksgiving Point and the Ogden Nature Center to find out which county along the Wasatch Front will make the most iNaturalist observations. It's Salt Lake County vs Utah County vs Weber and Davis counties combined. When you compete for the glory of your county, you can win prizes for yourself.
• Make observations of 10 different animals or plants and receive one free admission to the Natural History Museum of Utah (limit of one admission per person).
• The top City Nature Challenge iNaturalist observer in each of the three county groups will get to attend a special foothills walk with NHMU entomologist Christy Bills to learn expert tips for finding and identifying insects, spiders, and bugs. Plus they will receive a family membership at Thanksgiving Point and a gift basket of items from the Ogden Nature Center gift shop.
NHMU will be hosting a City Nature Challenge bioblitz on April 15 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm at the Fife Wetland Preserve on the Jordan River. It will be a great way introduce friends and family to iNaturalist. Check out the details here: https://nhmu.utah.edu/challenge
Please feel ask question and share ideas in the comments – and definitely add others to this journal post via tagging them in the comments!
Go Wasatch Front!
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