You’ve heard about the Metchosin bioblizes. Metchosin, however, is not alone in its desire to catalogue and track the species that make their homes in our public and private spaces. Other fascinating biological inventories have been happening around the Salish Sea. Join us on Friday, May 10, to hear Andrew Simon, one of the key players in these wider initiatives, talk about citizen science and local biodiversity. See poster below.
Andrew has been spearheading an effort to employ the iNaturalist software on smartphones to do biologica inventories, so his talk will be followed by a walk on Saturday that will be an iNaturalist bioblitz of the Metchosin Wilderness Park. By using the iNaturalist software, amateur naturalists can make their own contributions to the Mechosin inventory efforts. We need a lot more people in the field making observations, getting GPS locations, and taking pictures our local species, and the iNaturalist software offers a way to reach this goal. Also, some Metchosin people have better access to private lands–perhaps your own properties–than the Metchosin bioblitz planners do.
From 4:00 to 5:00 pm on Friday, before Andrew’s talk, we will have an iNaturalist training session to show people how to install and use the iNaturalist software tool on their smartphones and tablets. If you would like to join this training session, register with us at this email address. Location to be announced.
At the Saturday, May 11, bioblitz, everyone is welcome, whether you are using the iNaturalist software or not. We will start at 10:00 am in front of the Metchosin District Offices, where we will divide into teams and finalize our survey plans. We are planning to be in the field from 10 am to 2 or 3 pm. You are welcome to stay the whole time (bring a lunch!) or leave whenever you need to.
