iNaturalist

What is iNaturalist

Have you ever wondered about the identity of an animal, plant, insect, or fungi? iNaturalist is a free and easy to use website/app enabling anyone to submit and identify life in an ecosystem. Identification is narrowed down with machine learning and the help from experts in the community. In a nutshell, iNaturalist is a social network for nature-nerds and curious minds.

Research Grade Data

Research Grade observations are eligible to be used for scientific research. To achieve this status 2/3 of community identifiers must agree with your chosen taxon. The observation must also have accurate and complete information. The data gathered from experts to hobbyists is used to help understand biodiversity and discover new species.

Project: Dormont Park

An iNaturalist project is a collection of observations that have similar criteria such as specific taxa, geo-boundaries, etc. During the pandemic, I've spent many mornings walking through a local park sharpening my nature photography and mushroom hunting skills. Using my collection of photos, I created a project that accepts all observations confined within the boundaries of Dormont Park (Pittsburgh PA). My hope is that the local school district could use the project to teach students about the biodiversity of their local environment. Especially Dormont Elementary which shares a border with the park.

View Dormont Park

Observation example - Split Gill Mushroom - iNaturalist App

Adventure Time; Getting Started

Grab the app today to explore habitats from your local biome to distant lands. Every observation is pin-pointed on a map making exploration effortless and fun. Currently iNaturalist contains over 57 million user-submitted observations accounting for 316,000 species. From your backyard to Antarctica, the fun will never end, start your adventure today!

Create a free account at inaturalist.org. The desktop website offers a number of options not available on the app and the application offers an easy way to post observations. I suggest using both as they both have unique uses.