By Saundra McBrearty, Outreach and Volunteer Specialist 
Preservation Parks will host a BioBlitz event at Deer Haven Park, from noon on Friday, September 7 to noon on Saturday, September 8, 2018. The public is invited to participate during park open hours (8 a.m.-9 p.m.).
A bioblitz is a citizen-science opportunity for community members to find as many plant and animal species as possible, within a designated location and time period. Bioblitz events link people – visitors, volunteers, and nature experts – to the natural world around us while generating useful data for science and conservation. Besides being a vehicle for collecting data, these events are excuses for naturalists, scientists, and curious members of the public to meet in person in the great outdoors. They also are a lot of fun!
Using technology, such as the app iNaturalist, makes it easy for anyone to genuinely participate in our Bioblitz and to record observations. Use your smartphone to set up your iNaturalist account now, and start taking photos of the plants or animals you want to identify. Get acquainted with the app’s features before the Bioblitz in September. iNaturalist enlists help from the cyber community in identifying observations; plus, it generates maps, calendars, journals, life lists, etc. You can help identify other people’s observations, and meet folks with similar interests. Then, come to Deer Haven Park and use iNaturalist during our Bioblitz, September 7 and 8! See you in the park!
