Last week at the opening of the Urban Nature Research Center, the LA County Natural History Museum challenged citizen scientists all over to LA to beat San Franciscans to see who can spot the most nature in the urban areas. Dubbed the “City Nature Challenge: L.A. vs S.F.,” NHM and San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences invites participants to observe wildlife and submit it to iNaturalist.
The City Nature Challenge kicked off Saturday with festivities at NHM on National Citizen Science Day. The contest ends at noon April 21. The winner will be announced on Earth Day, April 22.
All wildlife counts, bugs, birds, plants, trees, butterflies etc. Participants can take a photo and upload their observations to iNaturalist, which is both a website and an app that you can download to your phone.
On April 13, the LA Times featured an interview with Lila Higgins, manager of citizen science at the L.A. museum, and Alison Young, citizen science engagement coordinator at the San Francisco academy, the two scientists who created the challenge, on the ground rules for the contest.
L.A. residents can also email observations to [email protected] or tweet, Facebook or Instagram them using the hashtag #natureinLA. Get your smart phone and start observing. Everyone is doing it, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti!
