TOMORROW (26 April 2024) kicks off the 2024 City Nature Challenge — let’s get out there and count some species! Can we reach 3500 observations and 1200 species this year? Let’s find out together!
Now, if you came to our last Chapter meeting to see our Bruce Neville’s presentation on the challenge, you already have a head start! If not, don’t worry–you’ve come to the right place to get up to speed.
What’s the City Nature Challenge?
The CNC is a friendly international ‘competition’ to document and identify as many species in your area over a 10-day period. If you’ve ever participated in a bio-blitz (like the annual event held by the Texas A&M Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology), you have already experienced a miniature version of this type of event.
The challenge is split into two phases:
- Observation – Go out and document species with photos and recordings
- Identification – Analyzing what you and other participants captured
This year, the challenge will run from 26 – 29 April (observation) and 30 April – 5 May (identification). Results will be announced on the CNC website on Monday, 6 May 2024.
Want to learn more about the City Nature Challenge? You can find their website here: https://www.citynaturechallenge.org
That Sounds Great! How Can I Join?
Observations for the CNC are recorded through iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org). You can make a free account there and start making observations. So long as you allow your location to be recorded (using the GPS on your phone or recording the lat./long. of your encounter), your submissions will be added to the pool of entries for the Brazos Valley.
Speaking of which…
Our “city,” the Brazos Valley, covers a 6-county area: Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, and Robertson counties. So long as you make your observations within that boundary, we can count your observations for the challenge.
All qualifying observations will be added to the City Nature Challenge 2024: Brazos Valley, TX project on iNaturalist. If you would like to join the project and keep up with everyone’s sightings and adventures, you can find it here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-brazos-valley-tx.
So HOW can I contribute?
Luckily, we have Bruce Neville in our Chapter’s corner and he has made some wonderful guides to help any newbies get their footing (or provide veterans with a helpful refresher!):
A Beginner’s Guide to iNaturalist
A thorough Google doc guide on how to use iNaturalist, including making and updating observations, projects, and identifying species on the platform.
The City Nature Challenge in the Brazos Valley
( 18 April 2024 TMN Chapter preservation)
A PDF copy of the slides from Bruce’s presentation from our Chapter meeting. It’s a great introduction and has some helpful screenshots to help you navigate iNaturalist, too!
Let’s go, Brazos Valley!