Back on February 3 I announced the pilot effort to create the “ARMN Observers” project in iNaturalist for ARMN members and allies. Yes, the start-up was a bit chaotic as I learned new tricks (and regrettably I briefly sort of spammed the listserv with messages). Yet now, just over 2 weeks later, I am pleased to say that the project at this moment of writing has 25 members, 53,571 observations, and 3,890 species!
Here are some general thoughts:
iNaturalist is an amazing global biodiversity participatory science effort. For a quick overview, look at : https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/about . Millions of users and approaching 150 million observations in the database!
Consider joining the project even if you don’t feel otherwise ready to fully take the plunge into iNaturalist. Even if you don’t make your own observations, you can keep an eye on what members are observing, and you might find that you enjoy helping to make identifications for observations that need confirming IDs to become “Research Grade”. Looking at what’s going on might inspire you to participate more over time.
Be aware that the behavior of iNat is somewhat different, depending on whether you access it from the phone app or from the desktop. From the phone app, you can readily see the most recent member observations and which ones still need IDs to become Research Grade. And the phone app is the easiest way to submit observations or help you identify organisms even if you choose not to submit your observations. The desktop version provides overview statistics and other more detailed information. Right now, Ken Rosenthal is our leader with over 17,000 observations!
The main iNaturalist website can be found at: https://www.inaturalist.org . The app can be found and downloaded by searching the Apple Store or Google Play Store for “iNaturalist”. Video tutorials about using iNat can be found at: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/video+tutorials .
To get to the project, on the website navigate to Community > Projects and search for ARMN. You can then click on the green JOIN button if you want to join the project. From the phone app, click on the menu 3 lines, go to Projects, search for ARMN, and then you can join.
At this time the project is configured to include member observations from Arlington, Alexandria, DC, Falls Church, Fairfax County, and Fairfax City. I may tweak this and welcome feedback; for example, should I include other nearby counties like Loudoun, Prince William, Montgomery, Prince Georges?
The plan is that ARMN members and “allies” are welcome to join the project. What is an ally? Someone who has a close relationship with ARMN but technically is not an actual member. Sibling location Master Naturalists who work with ARMN could be considered allies, for example. I do not want to include others at this time; there are other iNat projects that may be better suited for them.
Questions and feedback welcome! Steve Young, Frazmo@gmail.com
