sambiology's Journal

So, I took the day off today, and I'm going to be focused on uploading lots and lots and lots of observations from my trip down south. It was my first time headed down there, and wow -- I was blown away with the diversity! Elizabeth and I had a really great time. Some day I REALLY want to go to Mexico... Hopefully I'll be able to sometime.

Now, many of these observations I won't have an ID -- I've got a lot of flipping through field guides and examining other observations from other folks to try to figure out the ID's... As a matter of fact, I think this is pretty important. I have the responsibility to study my observations and try to make them as accurate in ID as possible. At the same time, I sure won't turn down any guidance on ID's! :)

As we start getting into the colder months here in TX, life kinda chills out, and I'll be spending more time going back through my observations that don't yet have ID's and devote quite a bit of time to giving guidance on other folks' observations too. It's all good fun. :)

Stay tuned for lots of observations from south TX! :)

Elizabeth (my wife) and I just got back from our little vacation down to south TX -- sorta a copycat trip from @greglasley 's trip with @kueda @maractwin @robberfly @gcwarbler a week before. We went down to see some of the birds and bugs and made a few stops along the way (although, it did rain on us a few days, and that was a bit of a bummer... we spotted lots of stuff nonetheless). I'll be uploading a BUNCH of observations sooner before later, so be forewarned -- your dashboard may fill! I'll try my best to study the organisms that we spotted, but any guidance on the ID's is greatly appreciated. It was filled with new things for me!

We were quite lucky to stay at the Alamo Inn and meet up with a couple of folks that were trapping moths -- Charles and Richard. I was out with them for quite a while, talking a range of topics scientific and not so scientific... Anyways, they asked what my "specialty" was, and I said "well, I'm trying to learn a little bit about everything now." Richard responded, "well, if you don't have a specialty, then you'll only be mediocre at best."

So, it got me thinking -- is iNaturalist making me this way? I finally focus on the entire ecosystem and all of the natural participants, but I suppose I'm becoming less and less of an expert on any group... I'm finding out the names of LOTS of different things, but I have trouble remembering all of their names. When I used to be solely focused on plants, I could name most of the plants in my local area, and perhaps even called myself an active 'botanist in training.' So, is an active 'naturalist in training' always going to be simply mediocre?

I suppose I don't have to prove anything to anyone, and that's a good thing -- I must admit, having this entire ecosystem approach to nature is making me quite happy! It's so much more filled with discovery and ah-ha! moments -- even if becoming an "expert" in it would be out of my reach. :)

Just mumbling some thoughts -- mumble along with me, if you want. :)

Again, stay tuned for LOTS of observations of many things that really excited me this past week! :)

So, I was euphoric the other day. Seriously euphoric (characterized by or feeling intense excitement and happiness). I had the awesome opportunity to go down to Dripping Springs to meet up with some other TX iNaters with the gracious invitation from Greg Lasley. It was so wonderful to finally meet face-to-face with so many iNaters that I'd only corresponded with before. As I was driving down, it really felt like I was going to a family reunion. As someone once said, "people don't remember what you say, they remember how they felt." It felt really awesome to meet up with these people.

I was also trying to explain what it was like to some folks that aren't into nature... I told them "it felt like shooting hoops with Michael Jordan. Also, Jordan didn't think that you sucked." :)

I'll be posting the observations I made down there in a bit, and I know they were likely over-observed by several iNaters, but I want to recall as many details from this trip as possible. It was so dang awesome.

And yes, I'm even more motivated to spread the word of iNat now -- the community is magnificent.

Thanks much to @greglasley @gcwarbler @robberfly @maractwin @mksexton @mchlfx @taogirl @annikaml @lotus @mikaelb @blubayou @brentano @gpstewart @connlindajo @cullen @billdodd @cgritz and, of course, special thanks to @kueda -- looking forward to the future of iNaturalist!

I had lots of fun heading down to the hill country for the Master Naturalist conference -- especially exploring a few new areas for me. One of these neat places was Cooper Nature Park in Lampasas. I had an encounter that will live in infamy... :)

So, I have officially submitted a dragonfly to the Guinness book of world records as THE HARDEST DRAGONFLY EVER TO CATCH. My word, this sucker took me a loooooong time to catch. First of all, it never stood still to roost/rest. Secondly, it seemed to zig-zag more than any other dragonfly I've ever seen before... It was crazy. I don't know if this one was just hyper or ate some sugar fed fruit flied or something, but it was crazy hard. Also, I think it must have planted some traps for my net in the way of cockleburs... I would swipe with my net and then it would get loaded up with the spiny fruits of Xanthium strumarium... I was almost sore from swiping so many times to catch it. I thought it was a 'darner' at first simply because I said "darn!" so many time (among other words/phrases)... Finally, out of sheer luck, I was able to accidentally catch it -- I think it was a sympathy catch -- it saw how hard I was struggling to get it. And yes, I did release it, and it went back to zig-zagging along the stream. :)

Thanks much to @greglasley for the ID of this dragonfly -- pale-faced clubskimmer. It's a new one for me, but one that I shall always remember. I think it currently holds the title for the hardest dragonfly to catch. Or at least, the hardest dragonfly that Sam has ever caught. ;)

What do you think? @greglasley @jimjohnson @scottking @ericisley @dianaterryhibbitts @mchlfx -- do you know of any contenders for this title of hardest dragonfly to catch?!? :)

This past weekend, I attended the Texas Master Naturalists state conference in Marble Falls and had a blast! Meet several folks for the first time, and it was great to associate some faces to iNat screen names! :)

@connlindajo @billdodd @dariamckelvey @birdladymilam @doodlebug @cullen and I'm sure several more that I can't think of right now.

I did a little presentation on spatial accuracy of observations and attended a few of Cullen's as well. All in all, I'm even MORE motivated to go out and observe more critters. :)

I took several hundred photos from the surrounding state parks that I'll upload in the next few days too.

North Central TX is starting to experience just a little bit of fall weather (in the 80's!), so I'll be outside a bunch more, despite the ragweed blooming like crazy and my nose picking up every morsel of pollen...

I've REALLY been getting into bugs, although my ID's are a bit lacking. If you know bugs, I sure would appreciate any guidance.

One thing that is quite nice is the advanced search option on bugguide... A few people had told me about this before, but I'm just now getting the hang of using it:

http://bugguide.net/adv_search/bgsearch.php

With a family name on the "Taxon ID #," and the state selected as "Texas" (or wherever), several options pop up, and you can scroll through the images pretty quickly. For instance, here are the leafhoppers documented in TX on bugguide:

http://bugguide.net/adv_search/bgsearch.php?user=&taxon=146&description=&location%5B%5D=TX&county=&city_location=&adult=&immature=&male=&female=&representative=

You can narrow down the search by using the filters, but I tend not to -- I just use family (or subfamily, genus, etc...) and do a 'search all.'

This has helped me out with my own observations, but I've been using it for others too. :)

Lately, I have been really into the little bugs.

My camera isn't the best at this macrophotography, but I think it can still take some decent shots. As a point-and-shoot camera with autofocus (Nikon coolpix P530), I can hold an insect in one hand and take a picture with the other. It means that my fingers are in LOTS of shots -- hope this isn't too much of a distraction. I'm not really going for art in my observations -- there are so many others that excel in that. :)

I have been doing a lot of sweep netting or "sweeping" to catch insects. It's quite amazing how many insects there are just in some tall grass! I use a petri dish with my hand in the background for some scale. I think it's a fairly effective way to observe bugs.

Now, on some insects, I grab onto their legs. I'm not totally sure, but I don't think this hurts them. At least, they're sure able to walk and fly away after I photograph them -- I'm sure these insects go back to their friends with a crazy story. :)

So, the other night I did my presentation for the Cross Timbers Master Naturalists on iNaturalist... Again, I had some trouble putting it together -- there was SO much that I wanted to say. I ended up making it more of a personal "why am I a naturalist?" than a "how to iNat." Anywho, here is the outline. If you want the ppt presentation, here it is: http://www.slideshare.net/SamKieschnick/inaturalist-presentation-to-master-naturalists

September 21, 2015

When and where did you see what?!?
iNaturalist – adding data and learning in the process
How to train the next gen of naturalists…

Why are you a naturalist?
Raise your hand if you call yourself a naturalist…
Raise your hand if you like or enjoy nature – if you did this, I would call you a naturalist.
Overall question to be thinking of during this presentation – why are you a naturalist???

Most common question…
Lucky to have a job where I can be a naturalist for a profession! “Lucky bastard” as Andy Keeble calls me.
I lead several nature walks and programs… Had one this morning with 18 homeschool kiddos
Most common question on a nature walk – “what is that?!?”
“The first step in wisdom is to know the things themselves" Carolus Linnaeus, Systema Naturae (1735).

Growing up…
Growing up, my parents nourished this love of being outside, catching bugs, exploring…

Use field guides to address that question – one of my first field guides that I used a BUNCH – Audobon insect, bird guide

What if…
But what if each time when that question was asked, or when you found out what something was, you could share that bit of data with the rest of the world (I’ll get into the “maybe I don’t want to share that…” later on)
- your dot on the map adds to the global understanding of that species

Now is a great time to be a naturalist:
- growth of citizen science…
Josh Tewksbury, university of Washington, professor of natural history, ecology, conservation biology
http://naturalhistoriesproject.org/conversations/an-exciting-time-to-be-a-naturalist

Social networks…
The rise of the social network – facebook is now part of our vocabulary
- facebook used to be more about relationships, now it’s kinda a sharing viral videos with friends
- Do you have facebook? Even if you don’t, you KNOW what facebook is… Guarantee you know more people that have
facebook accounts than are not on facebook…
Slow down – isn’t that the problem? Aren’t people living too much in a digital reality? Isn’t technology keeping people from going outside?

Nature deficit disorder
Technology and nature – nature deficit disorder – children (and adults) glued to screen
- technology isn’t going anywhere… As naturalists, we need to adapt to the technology!

Technology needs to be the hook
Nature field guides used by the next generation of naturalists will involve changing technology!
- “page turner” being replaced with “page clicker” – field guide will be on smart phone/tablets
- nature education needs to use technology as a hook rather than something to fear…

Enter: iNaturalist
“Documenting biodiversity and distribution of species through time and space with evidence (photo/sound)”
- Similar networks: bugguide, ebird, project noah
History of this network
- 2008 project at UC Berkeley – Ken-ichi Ueda, et al. - went through various changes in appearance
Current status at California Academy of Sciences
- 70,000+ users - 1.5 million+ observations across every continent
- projects, guides, journals, species distribution maps

iNaturalist’s unit is an observation…

It is just like a collection or museum of observations
I was so lucky to be a part of BRIT (herbarium) where I became passionate about “collections.”
Each observation acts like a voucher, shows some organism at some point in time at some place
- what, when, where = data.
- Differences between museum/herbarium specimens and iNaturalist observations…
1. physical specimen can be held in museum/herbarium
2. more accurate measurements in museum/herbarium – ruler and specimen in hand
3. museum/herbarium is not accessible to public… iNaturalist IS!
4. public not really invited in the museum/herbarium… Public necessary in iNat
5. digital collection more conservation-based (no/little harm to organisms being observed)

BRIEF how to join and add observations
show in slides -- 3 or 4
- website is what you should use first – to get comfortable…

- set up profile (username, password, profile)
- add observation, edit time, and location,
- scroll through projects and join projects – add observations to projects
*handout on how to join iNaturalist with more details…
- app – mobile devices – data collection device!
- photos with phones are getting pretty good (and will get better)

Benefits of being a part of iNaturalist

1. LEARN A LOT.

   • I have learned a tremendous amount in the past year just through iNat -- iNaturalist is a training tool.
   • ever wonder what that weird plant is that keeps popping up in the yard? “ID please…”
   • build up your confidence as a naturalist.

2. Giving others guidance

   • ability to help out others – welcoming them and giving guidance
   • help others with their “ID please’s…”
   • you know more than you think you know!

3. Live vicariously through adventures

   • observations in New Zealand or Costa Rica
   • enforces the value (intrinsic and real) of biodiversity
   • Show Mark’s deep see dives, show Scott Loarie’s adventures in Madagascar

4. Interact with experts
   

   • Greg Lasley, Chuck Sexton, RJ Adams, John Abbott, Susan Hewitt, Jason Singhurst, etc…

5. Being part of the “big picture”

   • add data to the big picture – we contribute to something bigger than ourselves.
   • your single observation feeds the scientific body – this can change policy or document climate change

6. We share this planet…

   • Realize we share the planet with LOTS of species…
   • I’m actually seeing this by being a part of iNaturalist… Not just with the species around me, but around others too
   • one of my goals to observe something every day – easy because we interact with nature daily!

Questions/criticisms about iNaturalist

1. I’m no expert! I don’t want to look like a dummy!

   • saving an observation as “something” or “plant”
   • we all learn as we go – me starting out with dragonflies… Everything was either “dragonfly” or “damselfly.”
     

2. Privacy concerns

   • (personal safety) – data is available for all to see… Including STRANGERS!!!
   • observations at your home? or at a park/public place? – plug the park system! Visit a park!!!

3. geoprivacy alleviates all fears…


4. if at home, you can obscure the accuracy of the observation (or change the accuracy circle)


5. if at a park or for a specific project, you may want to be as accurate as possible


6. personal preference – you can modify the accuracy!, although I try to be as accurate as possible





7. Wildlife concerns…

   • Concerns of the well-being of the organisms…
   • consider the biology! consider the population…

8. squirrels or orchids? Johnson grass or rare bird?




9. auto-obscuring endangered or threatened species – whooping cranes, box turtles – species of concern


10. you can obscure it to the county size – still can be useful data



11. My photographs aren’t good enough…

    • practice! Camera technology – point and shoots are gooooood these days
      – a good camera has changed the way I look at nature!

    • issue with bugguide – most of my images were frassed and the data forever lost :(
      
    • art is not as important as science (although, it is way cool to look at!)
    • ID’s are as good as your photographs – some comments will tell you what to focus on next time (ex: fungi – spores and gills)

12. Wait, what do you call that?

    • common names!!!
    • iNat defaults to a single common name, but it might be one that you’re not familiar with…
      
    • however, multiple common names can be given to a species – but there is only ONE species name
    • some species don’t even have a common name... (MANY insect species)

13. When is somebody going to ID this?!? Come on!

    • Patience for ID’s…
    • some organisms are ID’ed within the hour – others wait for days/months/years

14. same situation in any collection!
    How much do YOU want to know what it is?




15. If you really don’t know the organism, and want the ID, the impetus is on the observer!
    
    


16. Research! Google’ing – field guides, Wikipedia, etc..
    
    


17. Verify an identification/verification! The misconception that an “expert” is “perfect.”


18. Reaching out to others… this is the community of iNaturalist!



19. Change, change, change…
    

    • Updates may change the way the program looks. This is inevitable! Some changes are uncomfortable to begin with, but after using it, we become more comfortable
    • technology works like this…
    • adapt and acclimate if you want to participate

20. Time flies…
    

    • It takes time to do this…
    • absolutely! It can be a total drain of time… Lots of pictures to scroll through, lots of new information to learn, lots of practice with the website and/or apps… My wife Elizabeth will tell you how much time I spend on iNat
    • well, what is it worth? To me, it’s worthy of the time input

Why are you a naturalist?
- I’m a naturalist because I love nature. I love to learn about nature. I love to motivate and encourage others to love nature! I love to know and be with others that love nature.

How to change the world….

David Attenborough –Criticism for not being vocal enough about conservation… Instead, with his shows, he would simply show them what amazing organisms are out there… “isn’t this lovely/ isn’t this amazing?”

Participation is worth it.

- you get out what you put in – input, process, output, feedback
- Participation is needed! Participation makes you part of the big picture.

- Welcome to other nature enthusiasts – give some guidance on organisms that others spot
- you know more than you think you know!
- social network for naturalists and nature-enthusiasts

Next generation of naturalists
Think of the next generation of naturalists too – they will be using these sorts of tools.
Picture of nephew EJ with caterpillar…

We share out knowledge and our interest
As naturalists, it’s also our responsibility, duty (and privilege) to guide the next generation of naturalists.

Want to practice?
- Encourage you to give iNaturalist a try!

- Chuck Silcox Park October 3
- Oliver Nature Park BIOBLITZ! October 10, 9 – 11 am
- snacks and drinks provided
- bring a camera, smart phone, or iPad

Questions?
sam.kieschnick@mansfieldtexas.gov
screenname: sambiology on iNat

"...we are human in good part because of the particular way we affiliate with other organisms. They are the matrix in which the human mind originated and is permanently rooted, and they offer the challenge and freedom innately sought. To the extent that each person can feel like a naturalist, the old excitement of the untrammeled world will be regained. I offer this as a formula of re-enchantment to invigorate poetry and myth: mysterious and little known organisms live within walking distance of where you sit. Splendor awaits in minute proportions." E.O. Wilson, Biophilia.

So, I'm giving a presentation on iNaturalist to my chapter of Texas Master Naturalists on Monday... I've probably given like 100 presentations through my career/college days, but I'm having the most difficult time putting this one together! There's SO much I want to say about my new obsession of iNat, but I can't quite find an appropriate way to spit it all out. :)

So, I think rather than giving a "how to use iNat" presentation, I think I'll just focus on what I've gained from using it. I've gained a tremendous amount of knowledge, no doubt about that. I've become interested in more of nature -- not being so narrowly focused towards plants and becoming aware of the entire ecosystem...

But perhaps just as important, I've developed some pretty neat friendships with naturalists. This has truly enriched my life!

I suppose I'll just give some links on where folks can go to learn to use iNat, perhaps I'll give some handouts, and I'll just gush on how cool iNat is... for an hour. :)

iNaturalist is a great outlet for observations from the past. I have been enjoying several observations from some great naturalists.

When I just started to become obsessed with iNat, it was winter, and most of the plants were dormant outside... So, I spent some time inside going through my old plant collections and uploading the images. As I did this, I had such fun remembering what I saw and when I saw it! Although, I'm a bit bummed that I wasn't taking pictures of all of the other critters that I saw when I was focused on plants.

Memorable stuff: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1195588

So, if you have some older photos of animals, fungi, or plants, why not add some data to this global database?!?

And for your enjoyment, here are some fun ones that I spotted of the legendary naturalist and prolific iNatter, Greg Lasley:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/836690
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/186936
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/151283
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/233724

And here are some great entries from the man, myth, and legend, Chuck Sexton:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1258179
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1817338

Thanks to everyone that has spent many hours uploading and sharing your observations from the past -- I, for one, thoroughly enjoy living vicariously through your observations! :)