Citizen Science – iNaturalist Workshop

Citizen science is often a great opportunity to engage communities in wildlife research and to broaden your data set. There are many different ways to engage communities in wildlife research. This virtual workshop will focus on iNaturalist, Canada’s gateway to a global species data sharing community. Our workshop hosts will show you the potential of iNaturalist to grow and strengthen your datasets and engage your community in helping you gather high-quality data for small and large projects.

This workshop will:

1. Provide tips and tricks for creating effective projects on iNaturalist.
2. Help you troubleshoot any issues.
3. Learn how download data from and/or contribute to large scale projects.
4. Apply iNaturalist to your wildlife or conservation related research and management programs.

Investment:

$25 non-members | $20 members | $10 students

To register, please complete this google form and an invoice will be emailed to you. Once you have paid your invoice, you will be emailed a zoom link for the workshop.

You will need an iNaturalist username to complete the registration form. Sign up for iNaturalist here.

Speakers:

Dr John Reynolds, FRSC, is a Professor at Simon Fraser University, where he holds the Tom Buell BC Leadership Chair in Salmon Conservation.  His research focusses on ecology and conservation, with an emphasis on aquatic species, including salmon.  He has held a wide variety of scientific advisory roles for governments and non-government organizations.  He recently finished four years as the Chair of COSEWIC – the Committee on the Status of Endangered Species in Canada.  This is the committee of 175 scientists from across the country that volunteer their time to assess the status of plants and animals on behalf of the federal government’s Species at Risk program. He is also an avid naturalist, and for the past four years he has been co-leading the BC Parks iNaturalist project with Dr Brian Starzomski, which will be the topic of his discussion at this workshop, including links to conservation.

James Pagé, Species at Risk and Biodiversity Specialist, Canadian Wildlife Federation, focuses on species at risk and biodiversity conservation at the Canadian Wildlife Federation. He works on various projects at CWF, including turtle recovery work, rare species surveys, bat recovery and citizen science. Working with the developers at iNaturalst.org, James has been the lead in the creation and management of iNaturalist Canada.