State-Wide June Bio Blitz!

Calling all self-proclaimed naturalists! If you are a mushroom hunter, fisherman, birder, or just like walking the trails and discovering the diversity of our parks, we need YOU!

To help us learn about the diversity of organisms in our parks, we are competing with other parks in a state-wide Bio Blitz competition!

To participate, download the iNaturalist app on your phone, create an account, and start uploading observations found in your favorite parks!

iNaturalist is a free citizen science project application that allows users to locate and identify organisms anywhere in the world! You don't have to be an expert to join, simply take photos of organisms in the parks you visit (or your own backyard) and upload them to iNaturalist - all of which is done in the app itself. It's very user friendly and can help scientists discover new populations of organisms and track those that may be declining. It really is an awesome tool for research!

To get started, visit https://www.inaturalist.org/home and create your account. Then, simply visit any participating park in June and upload sightings within the park! They will automatically be submitted as part of the Bio Blitz. The more sightings, the more chances your park will win, so record everything! This is a self-guided activity, but many parks may have iNaturalist hikes to help boost numbers as well as trainings to teach you how to use the program if needed. 

Parks participating may include:

Black Moshannon
Boyd Big Tree Conservation Area
Codorus
French Creek
Hickory Run
Ibberson Conservation Area
King’s Gap
Lackawanna
Little Buffalo
Marsh Creek
M. K. Goddard
Nolde Forest
Parker Dam
Pine Grove Furnace
Presque Isle
Pymatuning
Ricketts Glen
Trough Creek
And hopefully more to come!