Ready for the 2021 City Nature Celebration? We Surely Are!

Between April 30th and May 3rd, hundreds of cities worldwide will be celebrating Nature and gather observations of species found in our area with the help of all who want to participate in the worldwide 2021 City Nature Challenge (CNC). Such events are known as Bioblitz events.

🆕 EwA focuses on collaboration and runs its events as co-creative opportunities. Aligned with our values, the CNC events organized by EwA also encourage collaboration over competition. As for the Global CNC event: it will continue to monitor the situation with regards to COVID-19 as we move into 2021. The decision as to whether CNC 2021 will be a competition or collaboration will be announced in 2021. CNC 2021 wants citizen/community scientists around the world to have the opportunity to participate, while still following all federal and local recommendations to keep communities safe. For detailed information about how the City Nature Challenge is adapting to COVID-19, visit citynaturechallenge.org/COVID19.

EwA is a member of the CNC steering committee for the Greater Boston area. Of course, we are also participating in the event. As for all, COVID-19 rules EwA’s life and its group events: The health of our communities is the most important to us, so will, only hold very small events–if any–with a strong distance distance policy during the City Nature Challenge. It should not prevent you from observing and recording in place, right where you are. We will also virtual meetups to help you with iNaturalist and show you what you can (and how to) observe in your city and in the places where we study urban and climate effects on local biodiversity (including in Somerville, Fresh Pond Reservoir, Middlesex Fells and Horn Pond).

Join any of these webinars! They are fun and insightful. These days they also bring relief by connecting us with Nature. They are also great tools to deepen wildlife ethics and help science while getting to learn about our communities and their biodiversity!

Fresh Pond Reservoir 🦋
Date TBD (limited size event)

» Registration soon

We’ll share what can be found at this time of the year around Fresh Pond, and how to observe and record good observations on iNat while respecting wildlife. We’ll also show you how your observations help the phenology and arthropod surveys that we are running at the reservation. 🦅 You could even see eagles if we’re lucky. We spotted 1 in flight in a previous CNC!

Middlesex Fells 🐸
Date TBD (limited size event)

» Registration soon

If the Fells is your backyard, we’ll share what can be found at this time of the year, and how to observe and record good observations on iNat while respecting wildlife. We’ll explain how your observations help the phenological and arthropod surveys that we are running at the reservation. If you’re lucky we might spot some salamanders!

Urban Somerville 🍃
Date TBD (limited size event)

» Registration soon

We’ll focus on what you can expect seeing in the City: its trees, wildflowers & birds are getting active at this time of the year. You’d be surprised to see how rich still a city environment can be. Right where we live, there are nuthatches, flickers, black squirrels and a myriad of wildflowers! You’ll also learn about wildlife ethics and iNat tips and tricks.

[More…] EwA’s Full list of CNC 2020 events ⇩

We are needed all over the World to take observations (with our phones and cameras) of as many species as possible. The more the better! This information will help to get a more accurate picture of the biodiversity in the Boston area, focusing within the I-495 corridor and out to Stellwagen Bank.

Any observation of plants, animals, fungi, even microbes, made in the greater Boston area during these days, will count for the challenge.

This is a national event encouraged by iNaturalist, open to anyone in the World and here in the Boston area.

Taking part is easy and free! To participate with us:

1) Download the iNaturalist app from the AppStore or Google Play (or use iNat online) & join the iNaturalist EwA City Nature Challenge Event.

2) Once you registered on iNaturalist, please send us your profile name at citizenscience@earthwiseaware.org, so that we get your observations counted explicitly in our EwA challenge project! We’ll generate a report after the challenge to show our participants’ contributions.
3) Get familiar with the app. Check the iNat short Getting Started guide and video tutorials. You can also join any of our citizen science crash courses prior to the challenge and listed in our calendar [» EwA’s Events Calendar]
4) Get outside & find wildlife.
5) Take a picture and then share your observations. Make your observations relevant to science following EwA’s observation and recording guidelines (it’s easy!).

You can also join the many organized events in your area (find if your city participates in the event). We will specifically host events between April 30^thand May 3^rd. Each of our events will be about 2 hours long, and you’ll learn and share a ton with us!

Come & Join us! It’s a lot of fun and for the great purpose of helping scientists to better protect the Nature that we love!

EwA Event Calendar & Registration »

What you’ll learn with us by joining any of our events

American toad (*Anaxyrus americanus*) | Research Grade Sighting

Besides having a great time, you’ll also learn about:

꙳ Biodiversity. History; Biodiversity status & threats; Why it is important to protect it

꙳ The importance of everyone’s participation through Citizen Science. What it is and its impact; Origins of biodiversity challenges; How you can join the effort

꙳ How to ethically observe and record nature & wildlife sightings. Safety and ethical practices; Major species families; Captive (or cultivated) vs. wild observations; How to take pictures and of what; What information to record along with a sighting

꙳ How to use recording apps such as iNaturalist like pros

Events List

Introduction to Citizen Science & CNC Webinars (Jan – May)

Climate & Biodiversity sciences need you and the information that you can collect. The good news is that you can really make a difference! This is a crash course about participative science (a.k.a. citizen science), which is the active public involvement in scientific research. In this class, we introduce you to what citizen science is, why it is needed, where it is needed, how you can help (individually or joining some of our local projects in local parks and reservations), and some of the popular tools used in citizen science projects.

Join us. It’s fun & exciting. Let’s make a difference together!

💻 CNC Participating Organization Introduction Webinar » See Date TBD | See last year’s recordings ↓
- 📹 Part 1: CNC Overview | Presenter: Colleen Hitchcock (Brandeis)
- 📹 Part 2: iNaturalist Overview | Presenter: Claire O’Neill (Earthwise Aware)
- 📹 Part 3: Q&A Session
🤝 CNC 2020 Virtual Meetup » Date TBD
📹 EwA iNat Deep-Dive Virtual Meetup » See last year’s recording
💻 EwA iNat for the Advanced User Webinar (on-demand) » 📧 Contact us!
💻 EwA Urban Wildlife Quest How-to Webinar: Fresh Pond, The Fells, and Somerville » Date TBD

Species Recording Events (April 30 – May 3rd):

Together let’s observe & record what we see right where we live! Avoid traveling – stay in place – explore your street, your backyard, your walking distance park. At all times, respect the necessary physical distance between people and as recommended by CDC, the State and the city where you reside. iNat with wildlife in mind: give them distance too!

We invite you to join our community and any of our iNaturalist projects. And you are most welcome to attend any of our local citizen science events!
꙳ EwA Events Calendar 📆 » https://earthwiseaware.eventbrite.com/
꙳ EwA Biodiversity projects 🔬» https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/ewa-biodiversity-projects