Getting Started

From falcons to ferns and everything in between, your biodiversity observations can make a difference. Join a growing group of community scientists who are using iNaturalist to document as much biodiversity as possible on the Harris Center’s protected lands! Here’s how:

1. Download iNaturalist

The easiest way to get started is by downloading the iNaturalist app on your mobile device, either through the Mac App Store or Google Play. You can also access your account through the website iNaturalist.org. While you’re there, check out the Harris Center Biodiversity Project. You can “join” the project by clicking the button in the upper right corner. When you join, you’ll receive occasional updates about the project on your iNaturalist feed.

2. Contribute Your Observations & Expertise

Through iNaturalist, there are two important roles that you can play as a community scientist. You can either record your own observations or help identify the observations of others — or you can do both!

To make an observation, take a photo of an organism, or of evidence of an organism, like scat or tracks. There’s no need to know what you saw; in fact, iNaturalist is a great tool for learning new species! When you upload your photo observation to iNaturalist, you can identify it at the species level, indicate something broader (like “butterflies” or “frogs”), or if you really don’t know, simply categorize the organism as “life.” Then, other iNaturalist users will help you identify what you saw.

Any observation that you record on the Harris Center’s designated flagship properties will automatically be added to the Harris Center Biodiversity Project, regardless of whether you’ve “joined” the project.

The iNaturalist website is full of helpful resources for getting started, including short video tutorials about how to upload your observations via your phone and on the web.

Check out this helpful graphic about how to share your observations: