Making your first observation
Welcome back! Today we will be going over how to make your first observation on iNaturalist! Follow the steps below and you will be on your way to becoming an observation-extraordinaire.
Step 1. Find something you want to identify. This could be an animal, a tree, a funky looking plant you’ve never seen… anything that is part of the plantae or animalia kingdom you can identify!
Step 2. Hit the observe button on your iNaturalist app.
Step 3. Either take pictures from your camera or upload them from your camera roll.
Step 4. Pick your “default” photo.
Step 5. Hit “what do you see?” and this tab will auto populate suggestions based on your photos.
Step 6. Pick the suggestion that appears closest to your observation.
Step 7. Hit “Share” and wait for your community members to respond!
(For a video examples of both the app and website versions, watch here. See the pictures below for examples on the iNaturalist app.)
Hit the camera icon on the bottom to start an observation. You can either upload your photos from your camera roll or take photos on your phone camera.
Hit “What do you see?” to search for suggested species. Select your default picture.
Search for suggested species. Select your choice of what the species is and hit “Share”!
This is what your post looks like once you share it.
Review what community members suggest is your species. (See Raymie’s ID).
Driftless Area BioBlitz 2022 (DABB)
You have all waited patiently for more information… so here it is! The DABB is our area’s BioBlitz from April 2022 to April 2023. A BioBlitz is an event created by iNaturalist which is a community-based effort to record species as well as getting people involved in community exploration. This effort allows people to identify species of plants and animals in a designated area while also collecting valuable data for scientists.The Driftless Area BioBlitz (DABB) is our community’s BioBlitz which encompasses the driftless region. We run our BioBlitz from April to April, with this year’s project beginning on April 24th, 2022. Our kickoff event is at the Earth Fair on April 24th, 2022 in Myrick Park.
The DABB aims to get community members involved in educating themselves by becoming a citizen-scientist, connecting with nature, and helping collect data for scientists around the world.
Why join?
It’s FREE fun!
You automatically have the chance to win prizes when you become a member of the DABB 2022 Nature Challenge on iNaturalist.
Prizes include:
#1 Most observations – $50
#2 Most observations – $25
#1 Most species – $50
#2 Most species – $25
For more information visit our website here and click on the “Driftless Area BioBlitz 2022” tab.
Happy exploring!
Emma