INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Sciences and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB) are challenging Indianapolis residents and surrounding communities to collect the most wildlife observations in the Midwest during the 2019 global City Nature Challenge from April 26 – May 5.
This year Indianapolis aims to place among the top 3 Midwest cities for participation and number of unique observations (500 participants completing 10,000 observations). In 2018, 239 citizen scientists completed 3,713 observations during Indianapolis’ first year participating in the City Nature Challenge.
Signing up is easy and free. Visit www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2019-indianapolis from your browser, or download iNaturalist from the Apple App Store or Google Play store.
For both budding and veteran citizen scientists, participating is easy:
1. Find wildlife. It can be any plant, animal, fungi, slime mold, or any other evidence of life (scat, fur, tracks, shells, carcasses!) found in your participating city.
2. Take a picture of what you find, and be sure to note the location of the critter or plant.
3. Share your observations by uploading your findings on our iNaturalist project!
On April 27 at 1:00 p.m., at Fort Harrison State Park, the naturalist staff will explain how to use the app before we explore our trails. Smart phone required to use the app, but not required for the hike! Wear comfortable hiking shoes and meet at the Delaware Lake parking area.
On April 28 at 3:00 p.m. at Broad Ripple Park,the local FIRST robotics team (Tindley Trailblazers @FRC6721) from TIndley Accelerated School will be exploring the park and giving iNaturalist demos.
As citizen science initiatives increase in popularity and impact on research, this year’s fourth annual City Nature Challenge has expanded to more than 150 cities across the globe. Kicking off April 26 at 12:01 a.m. in each time zone, the Challenge runs through April 30, 11:59 p.m. The multi-city, global event calls on current and aspiring citizen scientists, nature and science fans, and people of all ages and science backgrounds to observe and submit pictures of plants and wildlife using the free app iNaturalist. Indianapolis participants should add observations to the “City Nature Challenge 2019 Indianapolis” project in iNaturalist. Results will be announced on May 5.