2022    Totals  1,694,877 Observations 50,176+ Species 67,220 Participants   Participating Cities  

Past Results

Invented by community science staff, Lila Higgins at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) and Alison Young and Rebecca Johnson at the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), the City Nature Challenge is an international effort for people to find and document plants and wildlife in cities across the globe. It’s a bioblitz-style competition where cities are in a friendly contest with each other to see who can make the most observations of nature, who can find the most species, and who can engage the most people.   How it all got started  Started in 2016 for the first-ever Citizen Science Day, the community science teams at NHM and California Academy of Sciences dreamed up the City Nature Challenge as a fun way to capitalize on their home cities’ friendly rivalry and hold an event around urban biodiversity. The first City Nature Challenge was an eight-day competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco, engaging residents and visitors in documenting nature to better understand urban biodiversity.     In its first year, over 20,000 observations were made by more than 1,000 people in a one-week period, cataloging approximately 1,600 species in each location, including new records for both areas. During the 2016 CNC, there was so much excitement and interest from people in other cities that the organizers knew they couldn’t keep the fun just to themselves. In 2017 the City Nature Challenge went national, and in 2018, the CNC became an international event!     City Nature Challenge Leadership     Alison Young (she/her)  Co-Director, Center for Biodiversity and Community Science and City Nature Challenge co-founder California Academy of Sciences  Alison is the Co-Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Community Science at the California Academy of Sciences, where she builds community and partnerships around nature and sharing knowledge about biodiversity, creates events and campaigns focused on documenting species, and brings this community-collected data to answer scientific questions and help inform decision-making. Alison also co-directs the Academy’s Thriving California strategic initiative, focused on scaling biodiversity science and education and collaborating with communities, other organizations, and the State to build a healthy, resilient future for people and nature in California. Alison’s background is in marine biology, she holds a Masters in Biology from Humboldt State University for research focused on the potential effects of climate change on California’s rocky intertidal communities, and a B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College. When she’s not in the tidepools for work, she can often be found in the tidepools for fun – usually photographing nudibranchs, or in her local ceramics studio, happily bent over a pottery wheel, covered in clay.     Lila Higgins (she/they)  Co-Senior Manager, Community Science and City Nature Challenge co-founder Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County  Lila, who joined the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in 2008, is an informal educator with almost two decades of experience in museum education and community science programming. Her fascination with nature started early; she grew up on a farm in the U.K. where she spent her time chasing butterflies, playing in hollow trees, and pretending to be a badger. Lila, was a lead educator on the Museum’s newest nature-themed exhibits—the Nature Lab and Nature Gardens. They also authored the book Wild L.A. and co-founded the global community science event called the City Nature Challenge. They hold a bachelor’s degree in entomology from UC Riverside and a master’s degree in environmental education from California State University, San Bernardino.     Amy Jaecker-Jones (she/her)  Program Manager, Community Science Program and CNC Managing global organizers Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County  Amy joined the Community Science Program at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in 2018. Her primary responsibility is coordinating the City Nature Challenge at the local and global levels. Other projects she has worked on include the Backyard Bat Survey, co-creating a bilingual pollinator guide with a local elementary school, and field-testing community science kits at several Los Angeles County parks. Amy is a California Naturalist, a Certified Interpretive Guide, and a graduate of Occidental College.     Sam Tayag (they/them)  Program Manager, Community Science Program and CNC Managing global organizers Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County    Sam joined the museum in 2021. Their roots in community science grow from field research with their Grandma as a child in the lahar fields of the Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption. There they saw the power of community knowledge and mutual aid with the land applied to scientific research. They work to support community relationships to the land and natural science as a California Naturalist, former nurse, community organizer, and . They center their family’s traditional Indigenous ways of learning and connecting, including their experience as a parent to an awesome young child.     Olivia VanDamme  Coordinator, Center for Biodiversity and Community Science and CNC Managing global organizers California Academy of Sciences    Olivia started at the California Academy of Sciences in 2019. She is a new member on the community science team, and excited to support City Nature Challenge! She previously supported Science Action Club, a community science based international STEM program providing out-of-school time programs with professional development and science kits. Olivia has been recognized by Justice Outside for her extraordinary leadership and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in nature, as an alumna of their Rising Leaders Fellowship program. She holds a BA in Geography and Latin American Studies from California State University, Chico. As a Latina surfer and dedicated ocean advocate, Olivia volunteers with Brown Girl Surf, was the previous Program Director for City Surf Project, and has worked on several environmental justice initiatives at government agencies such as the California Coastal Commission. She currently serves as an Advisory Board Member for the Explore the Coast grant program through the California State Coastal Conservancy.     Anabela Plos  CNC Spanish Language Global Organizer Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" MACN-CONICET  Anabela Plos has a PhD in Natural Sciences from the National University of La Plata, performs her duties at the "Bernardino Rivadavia" Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences as a member of the National Research Council Scientific and Technical (CONICET)  Since 2015, she has managed the Argentine node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Within the GBIF community, she served as Regional Representative of Latin American and Caribbean Nodes (2016-2021) and as a committee member of the Biodiversity Information for Development program for the Caribbean (BID), financed by the European Union, coordinated by GBIF. Anabela also coordinates and promotes activities related to open and participatory science, such as the City Nature Challenge, the Great Southern BioBlitz and various activities in the Wikimedia community in Argentina and the Latin American and Caribbean region.

About

The City Nature Challenge is a collaboration-meets-friendly-competition to see what can be accomplished when we all work toward a common goal of observing nature in urban settings. The big three results, highlighted here, are for the total number of observations, species, and people who participated, all around the world. Below, you will find the contributions of each city to these total numbers.   Loading...

Live Results

This is the list of participating cities for the 2023 City Nature Challenge. While this list is updated regularly, it may not reflect any last minute changes to a city’s participation. Please click on the link to your city for any changes to events in your area.  If your city is not listed here, we welcome you to join our and take part wherever you live. Note: To participate in the global project you must first ‘join’ the project, using the link near the top right corner. For all other cities listed below, there is no need to join your local project, though you may choose to do so. All observations made within the boundaries of participating cities between April 28 - May 1 will automatically be added.

2023 Participating Cities

Welcome to the City Nature Challenge Education Toolkit!  We are currently updating our resources. In the meantime, we hope you will find these past activities for both formal and informal education settings useful.  While many of the activities are meant for groups, many can be adapted for use at home as well.  1  Read this educator guide for tips for facilitating, managing, and supporting student outdoor learning and exploration in schoolyards, nearby parks, or other green space. 2  Take a tour through iNaturalist, the website we will use in the U.S. to document observations. Learn how to best use this technology with students. This can be used in any formal or informal education setting. 3  View our “Educator Basecamp,” recommended progressions for short classroom and field activities for formal and informal settings. Progressions include activities, media, and other tools for the CNC, for a variety of ages and experience levels. See how they help to meet science standards and educational goals.   Want to fill out our Educator Basecamp survey?   Education Basecamp Resources     Education Working Group Members:  Initial resources developed by the members of the City Nature Challenge 2018 Education Working Group.  Amy Lorenz, Encyclopedia of Life (Boston, MA) Anne Haywood, Mountain to Sea Education (Miami, FL) Benjamin Ong, The Rimba Project / University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) Catherine Hoffman, Cumberland River Compact / SciStarter (Nashville, TN) Emily Mortimer, Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance (Tulsa, OK) Erica Prange, Cleveland Museum of Natural History (Cleveland, OH) Katie Remine, Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle, WA) Kelly O’Donnell, CUNY Macaulay Honors College (New York City, NY) Marie Studer, Encyclopedia of Life (Boston, MA) Mary Lee Kennedy, Agents of Discovery (New York City, NY) Pam Eby, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (Omaha, NE) Paul Whisman, Natural History Museum of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT)

Education Toolkit

Alma Anay Narvaez Barrios Uso de Plataforma Naturalista Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, México Spanish Online The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk Teacher Workshop Fairfield and Westchester County, Connecticut/New York, United States of America English Online National Aquarium City Nature Challenge Informational Webinar and iNaturalist Training Baltimore Metro Area/Maryland & Virginia, United States of America English Online You Can Be a Citizen Scientist: An Intro to the 2023 City Nature Challenge Washington DC Metro area USA English Online Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Nebraska Forest Service Educator Workshop: Connecting Students to Nature Through the City Nature Challenge Nebraska- but applicable across the United States English Online Jardín Botánico de Medellín Preparándonos para el Reto Naturalista: conceptos básicos, anécdotas y experiencias Valle de Aburrá Spanish Online National Aquarium City Nature Challenge Informational Webinar and iNaturalist Training Baltimore Metro Area/Maryland & Virginia, United States of America English In-person CONABIO Naturalist Project Tuxtla Gutiérrez Urban Naturalist Challenge 2023 Mexico Spanish Online The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk City Nature Challenge information session (What it is, how to get involved, iNaturalist overview). Fairfield & Westchester County, USA but general enough for anyone to benefit from English Online Macaulay Honors College City Nature Challenge: NYC - Getting Started on iNaturalist Webinar New York City English Online Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Earth Day and Beyond: Contributing to Community Science Using the iNaturalist App Los Angeles County English Online Nature Play and Learn Club, Department of Biology, Mahidol University. Intro to the City Nature Challenge 2023: Thailand Bangkok, Thailand Thai Online CONABIO Naturalist Project Tuxtla Gutiérrez Urban Naturalist Challenge 2023 Mexico Spanish Online South Dakota Discovery Center Intermediate iNaturalist: How to make your observations more useful to science  English Online Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy City Nature Challenge Bioblitz Training Los Angeles English Online Woodland Park Zoo City Nature Challenge Orientation for Individuals & Families Seattle-Tacoma Metropolitan Area English Online Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Introduction to the City Nature Challenge Nebraska- but applicable across the United States English Online San Diego Natural History Museum Live Remote Program: Science Needs You Focused on Southern California, but applicable to anywhere English Online Virtual ID Night Washington DC Metro area USA English Online City Nature Challenge Celebration! Washington DC Metropolitan area USA English Online

Events

Want to find out more about the City Nature Challenge? Fill out the form below to contact the event’s co-organizers.  Name: Email: Subject Message: Submit

Contact Us

Current Results

Taking Part is Easy  It can be any WILD plant, animal, or any other evidence of life found in your city. Take a picture or record the sound of what you find. Be sure to note the location of the critter or plant. Share your observations through iNaturalist or your city’s chosen platform. If it’s planted or taken care of by people it is not WILD. Mark it captive/cultivated!   Why participate?  There is nature all around us! Knowing what species are in our city and where they are helps us study and protect them, but the ONLY way to do that is by all of us – scientists, land managers, and the community – working together to find and document the nature in our area.  By participating in the City Nature Challenge, not only do you learn more about your local nature, but you can also make your city a better place – for you and other species!

Participate

NOTE  Any question or answer that refers to iNaturalist also applies to any of the iNaturalist network platforms: ArgentiNat, BioDiversity4All, iNaturalist.ca, iNaturalist.LU, iNaturalist.Se, iNaturalistAU, iNaturalistCL, iNaturalistCR, iNaturalistEc, iNaturalistFi, iNaturalistGR, iNaturalistGT, iNaturalistil, iNaturalistNZ, iNaturalistPa, iNaturalistTW, iNaturalistUK, naturalista.mx, NaturalistaCO, NaturalistaUY, Natusfera   Key Dates   Q: City Nature Challenge 2023 important dates:   Q: When can I start making observations that will count for the City Nature Challenge? When should I stop?   Q: Can I upload photos during the CNC that I took prior to the CNC?   Q: I took so many photos during the CNC that there’s no way I can get them all uploaded before the end of the day on May 1 – what should I do?   Making Observations   Q: Do I need to join my city’s project and add my observations to it for them to be included?   Q: How can I make sure my observations are in my city’s CNC project?   Q: What if my city isn’t within the boundary of the project? Can I still participate?   Q: What kinds of observations should I make during the CNC?   Q: What if I make an observation of something I know isn’t wild? Will it still count for the CNC?   Q: What if I don’t know what the organism is that I took a picture of? How do my observations get identified?   Q: Do I have to make observations using the app? What if I want to use a real camera?   Q: What about if I see something but didn’t get a photo of it – can I still make an observation?   Q: Can I use the Seek app to make observations?   Q: Tips for Taking Photos During the City Nature Challenge   iNaturalist   Q: Someone added an ID to my observation – should I agree with it? What if I don’t agree with it?   Q: How do observations in iNaturalist become Research Grade? Do my observations have to get to Research Grade to count for the CNC?   Q: Can I help identify what people found during the CNC? What if I’m not an expert in anything?

Research Papers  PeerJ Life & Environment A citizen science approach to evaluating US cities for biotic homogenization   Biodiversity A case study from the City Nature Challenge 2018: international comparison of participants’ responses to citizen science in action   UCL Discovery Evaluating public engagement with biological recording events - Case study of City Nature Challenge 2018   Biological Conservation COVID-19 pandemic drives changes in participation in citizen science project “City Nature Challenge” in Tokyo   ArXiv iNaturalist citizen science community during City Nature Challenge: new computational approach for analysis of user activity     Press and Media  The San Diego Union-Tribune San Diego Natural History Museum plans biodiversity blitz City Project of San Diego  Atlántida Ecocampus aúna a colectivos con objeto de conocer su fórmula para participar en la conservación de la biodiversidad City Project Bahia de Cadiz  El Guadarramista ¿Te apuntas al City Nature Challenge 2018? City Project Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Bahia de Cadiz  EFE: Verde Cuatro ciudades españolas en el biomaratón para la observación de la naturaleza City Project Madrid  La Vanguardia Biomaratón busca impulsar observación de naturaleza en 4 ciudades españolas City Project Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Bahia de Cadiz  South China Morning Post Conservation in Hong Kong: citizen scientists enlisted to record and safeguard city’s amazing biodiversity City Project Hong Kong  am New York Forest Hills’ QueensWay teaches biodiversity, human impact to high school students City Project New York City  Utah Public Radio Nature is Calling: Satisfy Your Curiosity And Contribute To Scientific Research Using iNaturalist City Project Wasatch Front (Salt Lake City)  Voice of America Youngsters Help Scientists Study Nature in 16 US Cities City Project Los Angeles / All Cities  Marin Independent Journal City Nature Challenge a fun way to become a naturalist City Project San Francisco / Los Angeles  KCET Why is Citizen Science Important? City Project Los Angeles / San Francisco  Los Angeles Times L.A. takes on San Francisco in the first City Nature Challenge City Project Los Angeles / San Francisco 

Press & Publications

Invented by community science staff, Lila Higgins at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) and Alison Young and Rebecca Johnson at the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), the City Nature Challenge is an international effort for people to find and document plants and wildlife in cities across the globe. It’s a bioblitz-style competition where cities are in a friendly contest with each other to see who can make the most observations of nature, who can find the most species, and who can engage the most people.<h2>How it all got started</h2>Started in 2016 for the first-ever Citizen Science Day, the community science teams at NHM and California Academy of Sciences dreamed up the City Nature Challenge as a fun way to capitalize on their home cities’ friendly rivalry and hold an event around urban biodiversity. The first City Nature Challenge was an eight-day competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco, engaging residents and visitors in documenting nature to better understand urban biodiversity.&nbsp;<img src="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/la_vs_sf_8434b9b6ac.svg?updated_at=2023-02-06T05:20:00.858Z" alt="Text reading L.A. vs. S.F.">In its first year, over 20,000 observations were made by more than 1,000 people in a one-week period, cataloging approximately 1,600 species in each location, including new records for both areas. During the 2016 CNC, there was so much excitement and interest from people in other cities that the organizers knew they couldn’t keep the fun just to themselves. In 2017 the City Nature Challenge went national, and in 2018, the CNC became an international event!

<h2>City Nature Challenge Leadership</h2><img src="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/Alison_Young_Reduced_Size_5f1275ed20.jpg" alt="Photograph of Alison Young Standing in front of tide pools" srcset="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/thumbnail_Alison_Young_Reduced_Size_5f1275ed20.jpg 230w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/small_Alison_Young_Reduced_Size_5f1275ed20.jpg 500w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/medium_Alison_Young_Reduced_Size_5f1275ed20.jpg 750w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/large_Alison_Young_Reduced_Size_5f1275ed20.jpg 1000w," sizes="100vw"><h3>Alison Young (she/her)</h3>Co-Director, Center for Biodiversity and Community Science and City Nature Challenge co-founder California Academy of SciencesAlison is the Co-Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Community Science at the California Academy of Sciences, where she builds community and partnerships around nature and sharing knowledge about biodiversity, creates events and campaigns focused on documenting species, and brings this community-collected data to answer scientific questions and help inform decision-making. Alison also co-directs the Academy’s Thriving California strategic initiative, focused on scaling biodiversity science and education and collaborating with communities, other organizations, and the State to build a healthy, resilient future for people and nature in California. Alison’s background is in marine biology, she holds a Masters in Biology from Humboldt State University for research focused on the potential effects of climate change on California’s rocky intertidal communities, and a B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College. When she’s not in the tidepools for work, she can often be found in the tidepools for fun – usually photographing nudibranchs, or in her local ceramics studio, happily bent over a pottery wheel, covered in clay.<img src="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/lila_higgins_e02a76cf83.jpeg" alt="lila-higgins.jpeg" srcset="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/thumbnail_lila_higgins_e02a76cf83.jpeg 245w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/small_lila_higgins_e02a76cf83.jpeg 500w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/medium_lila_higgins_e02a76cf83.jpeg 750w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/large_lila_higgins_e02a76cf83.jpeg 1000w," sizes="100vw"><h3>Lila Higgins (she/they)</h3>Co-Senior Manager, Community Science and City Nature Challenge co-founder Natural History Museums of Los Angeles CountyLila, who joined the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in 2008, is an informal educator with almost two decades of experience in museum education and community science programming. Her fascination with nature started early; she grew up on a farm in the U.K. where she spent her time chasing butterflies, playing in hollow trees, and pretending to be a badger. Lila, was a lead educator on the Museum’s newest nature-themed exhibits—the Nature Lab and Nature Gardens. They also authored the book Wild L.A. and co-founded the global community science event called the City Nature Challenge. They hold a bachelor’s degree in entomology from UC Riverside and a master’s degree in environmental education from California State University, San Bernardino.<img src="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/Amy_Jaecker_Jones_Reduced_Size_69996455c0.jpg" alt="Photograph of Amy Jaecker-Jones standing in front of a pond" srcset="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/thumbnail_Amy_Jaecker_Jones_Reduced_Size_69996455c0.jpg 245w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/small_Amy_Jaecker_Jones_Reduced_Size_69996455c0.jpg 500w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/medium_Amy_Jaecker_Jones_Reduced_Size_69996455c0.jpg 750w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/large_Amy_Jaecker_Jones_Reduced_Size_69996455c0.jpg 1000w," sizes="100vw"><h3>Amy Jaecker-Jones (she/her)</h3>Program Manager, Community Science Program and CNC Managing global organizers Natural History Museums of Los Angeles CountyAmy joined the Community Science Program at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in 2018. Her primary responsibility is coordinating the City Nature Challenge at the local and global levels. Other projects she has worked on include the Backyard Bat Survey, co-creating a bilingual pollinator guide with a local elementary school, and field-testing community science kits at several Los Angeles County parks. Amy is a California Naturalist, a Certified Interpretive Guide, and a graduate of Occidental College.<img src="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/Sam_Tayag_6d4db247d4.jpg" alt="Photograph of Sam Tayag looking at a museum specimen" srcset="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/thumbnail_Sam_Tayag_6d4db247d4.jpg 156w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/small_Sam_Tayag_6d4db247d4.jpg 500w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/medium_Sam_Tayag_6d4db247d4.jpg 750w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/large_Sam_Tayag_6d4db247d4.jpg 1000w," sizes="100vw"><h3>Sam Tayag (they/them)</h3>Program Manager, Community Science Program and CNC Managing global organizers Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County &nbsp;Sam joined the museum in 2021. Their roots in community science grow from field research with their Grandma as a child in the lahar fields of the Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption. There they saw the power of community knowledge and mutual aid with the land applied to scientific research. They work to support community relationships to the land and natural science as a California Naturalist, former nurse, community organizer, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.astc.org/impact-initiatives/community-science-dialogue-deliberation-fellowship-program/">ASTC Community Science Dialogue &amp; Deliberation Fellow</a>. They center their family’s traditional Indigenous ways of learning and connecting, including their experience as a parent to an awesome young child.<img src="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/Olivia_Van_Damme_CC_BY_Michael_Estrada_2020_04_17_6452b29c06.jpeg" alt="Photograph of Olivia VanDamme" srcset="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/thumbnail_Olivia_Van_Damme_CC_BY_Michael_Estrada_2020_04_17_6452b29c06.jpeg 125w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/small_Olivia_Van_Damme_CC_BY_Michael_Estrada_2020_04_17_6452b29c06.jpeg 400w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/medium_Olivia_Van_Damme_CC_BY_Michael_Estrada_2020_04_17_6452b29c06.jpeg 600w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/large_Olivia_Van_Damme_CC_BY_Michael_Estrada_2020_04_17_6452b29c06.jpeg 800w," sizes="100vw"><h3>Olivia VanDamme</h3>Coordinator, Center for Biodiversity and Community Science and CNC Managing global organizers California Academy of Sciences &nbsp;Olivia started at the California Academy of Sciences in 2019. She is a new member on the community science team, and excited to support City Nature Challenge! She previously supported Science Action Club, a community science based international STEM program providing out-of-school time programs with professional development and science kits. Olivia has been recognized by Justice Outside for her extraordinary leadership and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in nature, as an alumna of their Rising Leaders Fellowship program. She holds a BA in Geography and Latin American Studies from California State University, Chico. As a Latina surfer and dedicated ocean advocate, Olivia volunteers with Brown Girl Surf, was the previous Program Director for City Surf Project, and has worked on several environmental justice initiatives at government agencies such as the California Coastal Commission. She currently serves as an Advisory Board Member for the Explore the Coast grant program through the California State Coastal Conservancy.<img src="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/Anabela_Plos_f7d57bdf0d.jpg" alt="Photograph of Anabela Plos standing in front of flowers" srcset="https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/thumbnail_Anabela_Plos_f7d57bdf0d.jpg 156w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/small_Anabela_Plos_f7d57bdf0d.jpg 500w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/medium_Anabela_Plos_f7d57bdf0d.jpg 750w,https://cnc-assets.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/NHMLA/large_Anabela_Plos_f7d57bdf0d.jpg 1000w," sizes="100vw"><h3>Anabela Plos</h3>CNC Spanish Language Global Organizer Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" MACN-CONICETAnabela Plos has a PhD in Natural Sciences from the National University of La Plata, performs her duties at the "Bernardino Rivadavia" Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences as a member of the National Research Council Scientific and Technical (CONICET)Since 2015, she has managed the Argentine node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Within the GBIF community, she served as Regional Representative of Latin American and Caribbean Nodes (2016-2021) and as a committee member of the Biodiversity Information for Development program for the Caribbean (BID), financed by the European Union, coordinated by GBIF. Anabela also coordinates and promotes activities related to open and participatory science, such as the City Nature Challenge, the Great Southern BioBlitz and various activities in the Wikimedia community in Argentina and the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Taking Part is Easy

<h2>Why participate?</h2>There is nature all around us! Knowing what species are in our city and where they are helps us study and protect them, but the ONLY way to do that is by all of us – scientists, land managers, and the community – working together to find and document the nature in our area.By participating in the City Nature Challenge, not only do you learn more about your local nature, but you can also make your city a better place – for you and other species!

Welcome to the City Nature Challenge Education Toolkit! &nbsp;We are currently updating our resources. In the meantime, we hope you will find these past activities for both formal and informal education settings useful. &nbsp;While many of the activities are meant for groups, many can be adapted for use at home as well.

Education Basecamp Resources

<h3>Education Working Group Members:</h3>Initial resources developed by the members of the City Nature Challenge 2018 Education Working Group.Amy Lorenz, Encyclopedia of Life (Boston, MA) Anne Haywood, Mountain to Sea Education (Miami, FL) Benjamin Ong, The Rimba Project / University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) Catherine Hoffman, Cumberland River Compact / SciStarter (Nashville, TN) Emily Mortimer, Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance (Tulsa, OK) Erica Prange, Cleveland Museum of Natural History (Cleveland, OH) Katie Remine, Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle, WA) Kelly O’Donnell, CUNY Macaulay Honors College (New York City, NY) Marie Studer, Encyclopedia of Life (Boston, MA) Mary Lee Kennedy, Agents of Discovery (New York City, NY) Pam Eby, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo &amp; Aquarium (Omaha, NE) Paul Whisman, Natural History Museum of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT)

Any question or answer that refers to iNaturalist also applies to any of the iNaturalist network platforms: ArgentiNat, BioDiversity4All, iNaturalist.ca, iNaturalist.LU, iNaturalist.Se, iNaturalistAU, iNaturalistCL, iNaturalistCR, iNaturalistEc, iNaturalistFi, iNaturalistGR, iNaturalistGT, iNaturalistil, iNaturalistNZ, iNaturalistPa, iNaturalistTW, iNaturalistUK, naturalista.mx, NaturalistaCO, NaturalistaUY, Natusfera

NOTE

Key Dates

Making Observations

iNaturalist

Want to find out more about the City Nature Challenge? Fill out the form below to contact the event’s co-organizers.