Image

The UMass Amherst Libraries have announced that for the sixth year UMass Amherst and Western Massachusetts will once again participate in the annual City Nature Challenge (CNC). The global community event, which attracts nature enthusiasts and current and aspiring scientists of all ages and educational backgrounds, is set to kick off Friday, April 25, at 12:01 a.m.

Using the free mobile app iNaturalist, from April 25-28 nature and science fans can observe and have the opportunity to submit photographic or audio evidence of wild plants, animals and fungi. Identification of photographed species will be crowdsourced through the online iNaturalist community from Tuesday, April 29 through Sunday, May 4, with results announced on Monday, May 5.

The challenge started in 2016 by citizen science teams at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco as a fun way to capitalize on their home cities’ friendly rivalry and hold a citizen science event around urban biodiversity. Additionally, the wildlife information gathered during the challenge gives scientists, educators, urban planners, and policymakers insight into the biodiversity of urban locales throughout the world. Last year, more than one million observations were made.

Melanie Radik, librarian in the Science and Engineering Library, and Lynn Harper, retired MassWildlife conservation planner, are spearheading organization efforts with an information guide and numerous free workshops for all interested participants.

A complete list of the workshops, scheduled throughout the Challenge’s five days, as well as links to the iNaturalist app and the Challenge’s toolkit, can be found on the Libraries’ website.