Remote Defending: Participating in Community Science

We are contributing to the community science project - iNaturalist.

iNaturalist data, which is gathered by people all over the world, is something that we use in our work as we combine science, technology, and policy to advance conservation.

So we’re gonna look for salamanders and ferns and see what we find.

What is it? An anemone. That’s right, an anemone.

The data that we’re collecting here are the kind of data that we use at Defenders and in the Center for Conservation Innovation to… make funny faces?

No, we don’t use it to make funny faces. We use it to help make better decisions for conservation.

So how do we use this data?

We build models to understand where species are found.

So if you’re looking around in an eastern forest that’s not too far from creek and you’re out with a wee one - Hello!

You can predict whether or not you’re going to find a species.

This is really important for being able to protect species.

Lark: (Hello, goodbye)

So if you’re looking for something to do in this time of social distancing and you want to get out in the woods, maybe go out with the wee one - that has a banana - grab your phone, grab the iNaturalist app, and collect a little bit of data.

We might end up using it as part of our science technology and policy work in the Center for Conservation Innovation and at Defenders of Wildlife.

Stay safe everyone!