Botany Blitz - Please Join
How would you like to iNat for 6+ hours AND contribute to science?
If so, please consider signing up for the Botany Blitz at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park on April 16th (Sunday) hosted by Orange County Chapter of the California Native Plants Society.
It's a great event and last year had about 60 participants.
Pros:
- Take great photos and get them identified quickly
- Observe at naturalist pace (hours/mile vs. miles/hour)
- Meet folks and iNatters who share your passion for plants
Cons:
- Waking up early
- A long drive
- Rest needed after
@arboretum_amy has a great journal post about the last botany blitz.
Comments
@aaronddhh, @aaron_echols, @adirado, @aefisher, @amthinkia, @andersonjessicarose, @andrealikesbirds, @anna_coulter, @anneliesewilson, @aparrot1, @arboretum_amy, @asmo_sw, @audrey2, @auntiegrace, @b0tanica, @boazsolorio, @bri-k, @chaparralbees, @cheonggaegori, @chilipossum, @chris_gort, @cintylee, @colleenv1, @connectacopia, @craighoover, @cwbarrows, @danieldas, @david99, @ddonovan17, @debraokano, @dgrimmphd, @efmer, @ekoberle, @elizabeth_lockhart, @ellenupp, @emmagd98, @escapeyourself, @flower_prof, @g_heaton, @grmorrison, @heatherconstable, @hikingsandiego, @hsug1747, @ianrhodes, @iorek, @iranah, @itazura, @jimandre, @jmillsand, @jordanii, @jrcowles, @jrebman, @jsriley1984, @juliabohemian, @keirmorse, @klyle161, @kristalwatrous, @kyle_eaton_photography, @leif_richardson, @looking4salvia, @macciecheese, @manidae, @matt_bristol, @matt_g, @melsocal, @mferr, @michellepicca, @mikebutt, @mooseandsquirrel, @morganstickrod, @mossgeek, @nathantaxel, @nathantay, @naturephotosuze, @night-owl-naturals, @nutsaboutkitties, @onesteward, @onyxrat, @orchidboi, @pamtaylor, @poa, @possiblybuddha, @randall_english, @randallgood, @ranger-jim, @rbelshee, @ryan2139, @salvmell, @sfelton, @silversea_starsong, @skatingflamingo, @slowplants, @squirrelbait, @sshigenaga, @superluminal, @susanmf, @tchester, @tommy_two_two, @toriebirdie, @toyonito, @velodrome, @warren_schmidtmann, @wildgifts, @zeeshanmahmud
See also: @arboretum_amy's journal: You're Invited
When is this event? I'm heading for the jungles of Panama next week for 3 weeks to INat there, but thanks for the invite!
@aparrot1, updated the post with date (April 16th)
If anyone is interested in carpooling, I'm planning to drive from Corona, CA via 91W -> 55S -> Chapman Ave and am willing to pick folks up who are +/- 10 minutes away from the route. If this is something you need, please message me.
Wish I could make it!
Aw, I wish I could, but I will be at a convention with my kid. Thanks for the invite!
Planning on being there :)
Wish I could join in person, but I'm studying in Australia this year! I'll try to ID what observations I can though :)
See you there!
Thanks for the invite! Wish I could join but I'm in Northern California - it's a bit too far afield for me
I'll be there.
Btw if anyone's on the fence, I just read on the site that you need to fill out the registration and waiver by April 9th in order to go.
This sounds so fun, but I'll be working that weekend!
Thanks for the invite! As much as I'd love to, you lost me at waking up early. I am a confirmed night owl - and I'm in San Diego.
(I can do early without the drive.)
@spidey33
Yeah this sounds awesome, I'm in! Thanks for tagging me!
I really would like to join, but I won't be in Orange County for that weekend, unfortunately. :(
@jalopy, @kylegunther, @aarenas You're invited :)
Sounds like fun. I'm currently almost booked solid with fieldwork for the next 3 weeks, so I can't really commit. If I end up not working that day, I might pop in and go rogue, haha. Good luck, and thanks for inviting me and putting this together!
@arboretum_amy I’m already signed up! Thanks for sending though :)
@jrcowles, I think there's always a need for identification once folks upload observations. I'm not the organizer of the event though, so not sure about what other ways there are to help. I just tagged folks I regularly "see" identifying or observing in the area, thinking this might be a great event to attend.
I believe it is for this project https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/whiting-ranch-wilderness-park-plants
So I would start there for doing IDs.
I really really wish I could make it, but I have my first final the next morning. Thanks for tagging me, I'm going to be pretty free to do stuff like this over the summer!
I found out why it filed up: a plant taxonomy professor is bringing his whole class.
I hope they'll at least be enthusiastic about it and treat it less like an assignment, but I'm a little concerned that might be the case
I think @charlie coined a nice term for such participants in this iNat forum topic as "Duress" users. Hopefully, all of these students find the experience fun and don't find iNat's learning curve too steep. Maybe some of them will eventually become top identifiers too?
Hi All, I'm not sure if it's my class, but I made this event an optional field trip for my CSU Long Beach students taking Plant Systematics this semester. I first asked the organizers if it was okay and we didn't mean to take away spaces from others! All of the students are Biology majors but they have a wide range of career goals. Some of them are interested in becoming field biologists while others hope to teach high school or be a nurse or a pharmacist or don't yet know what they want to do. They are using iNaturalist this semester for a class project and they are all familiar with the app and required to make high-quality observations that include a series of focused photographs with an object for scale. I also hope they'll be enthusiastic during our field trip, as they are on other trips we take during the semester. Most of all I hope they meet some knowledgable and patient botany and natural history folks who inspire them to continue looking at plants long after our class is over. I know most of them won't have the pleasure of going into botany professionally but they can become advocates for our native plants and wild places.
Thanks for the thoughtful message Amanda. The class I mentioned was not your class, but nice to hear some of your students are coming too. I'm not worried about it. The student (again not yours) that I spoke to was very excited.
I hope everyone who was able to register/attend enjoyed the event! I thought it was lots of fun and it was pretty neat getting to see some of you in person! If you'd like to identify any of the observations, please use this link, courtesy @ronvanderhoff.
Unless anyone has objections, I'm planning to remove this journal in a few months since it's basically a digital flyer.
Thank you!
Two slight variations to @ronvanderhoff's URL, in case you find them more convenient:
With &per_page=100 - 100 obs. per page before "next page" popup
Exclude Research Grade - Exclude obs. that have preliminary consensus
It was a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone for a great day.
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