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iNaturalist

Contribute to Science

​Every observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed. 

Image by Muhammadh Saamy

How it works

Observation

iNaturalist is a free platform—both a website and app—to record observations of plants and animals in nature. You use photographs to share what you’ve found, which contributes to a global dataset of biodiversity information used for both science and conservation. Making observations is as simple as exploring, being curious, and taking photos of organisms (or evidence of those organisms, like tracks, nests, shells, or skulls.)

 

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Identification

The iNaturalist computer vision will suggest possible identifications, and then when you upload those observations, the iNaturalist community works together to refine and confirm the identifications. iNaturalist helps anyone exploretheir surroundings, improves their observation skills, and connects them to a community that will help make them a better naturalist.

Observing Wildlife

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iNat at Home

South Florida's biodiversity is what gives us an edge in the City Nature Challenge. From the Gulf Stream to the Everglades, we have wildlife everywhere! how many plants and animals can you spot from your front door? 

Best Practices

Explore best practices for iNaturalist, including tips, tricks, and common things to avoid. Quality photos and observations support quality data and proper identification.

Is it wild?

​Wild observations contribute important data about species biogeography, migration, and more! What makes a species wild versus captive or cultivated?

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Discover fun features included in iNaturalist Online

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Learn how to use iNat Observation Fields to view insect-flower associations

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Learn how to view and filter iNaturalist's biodiversity data using location, date, species, and more

Why does it matter?

Wildlife observations on iNaturalist become research grade when the species has been identified correctly and is confirmed by the iNaturalist community. Research grade data helps scientists and resource managers understand when and where organisms occur. The data is used in scientific study, resource management, and policymaking. iNaturalist shares your findings with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use your data.

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Research Grade, Needs ID,
Casual Grade explained

Virtual iNaturalist Training
Join us with local iNaturalist expert, Joe MDO, to explore the incredible capabilities of the iNaturalist platform and learn best practices for data collection. For the recording, please email conservation@frostscience.org
Recording available here.

Joe Montes de Oca, an experienced iNaturalist user, is available to provide training/answer questions most weekdays from 2:30PM-8:00PM. You can get in touch with him to plan a Zoom meeting at joemdo.inaturalist@gmail.com with your availability. He is happy to meet with organizations, teachers, groups, or one-on-one.

You can also see the following powerpoint presentation with tips on how to use iNaturalist:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16fWrL3Ggw0CA7OkuIE_RFQemLNYZITXV/view

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