Help us record 10 years of change in Balboa Park
The San Diego Natural History Museum Balboa Park Bio-Blitz will be on Friday, April 27 starting at 2:00 PM and ending Saturday, April 28, 2018, at 2:00 PM.
The last Balboa Park Bio-Blitz was hosted in 2008, making this year’s event the 10-year anniversary of the program.
Have fun by making a valuable contribution to science using your mobile device. Join the Natural History Museum and ALAS-San Diego in the 2018 City Nature Challenge, a worldwide competition to see which city can record the most wildlife in their region.
What is a Bio-Blitz?
A Bio-Blitz is a 24-hour effort to document as many species of wild plants and animals in a given area at a time, which in this case, Balboa Park. Participants join in on the fun collectively gallivanting around the Park in search of birds, mammals, spiders, insects, plants, reptiles, amphibians, and even fossils!
How you can participate
ASLA-San Diego wants you and your co-workers to participate in this fun event by making an office team or gathering your friends and family or feeling free to just wander about solo.
All species accounts will be tracked using iNaturalist, a platform dedicated to recording what you see in nature, allowing you to meet other nature lovers, and learn about the natural world. Not familiar with iNaturalist? Not to worry, it’s super user-friendly. All you have to do is:
- Download the free iNaturalist app to your Android or iPhone
- Join the 2018 Balboa Park BioBlitz iNaturalist project
- Take photos from April 27-28 to make observations of wild plants and animals in Balboa Park
- Upload your photos to iNaturalist
- Learn more as the iNaturalist community helps identify your observations
The Natural History Museum will have tables set up inside and outside the Museum on Saturday, April 28 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM to help participants get up to speed with the iNaturalist app and answer questions.
Participants can interact with working scientist, trained naturalists, and environmental educators. There will be a species count reveal at 3:00 PM on the Museum’s south steps.
This event is part of the larger City Nature Challenge, a worldwide competition to see which city can make the most observations of their local plants and animals. Observations submitted to this Bio-Blitz iNaturalist project will contribute to San Diego’s chances of winning the 2018 City Nature Challenge.
For additional information about this event go to: http://www.sdnhm.org/calendar/2018-balboa-park-bioblitz/