This year’s City Nature Challenge begins tomorrow, running from April 29 through May 2! To participate, one simply needs to make natural history observations on O‘ahu (including our surrounding waters and offshore islets) and upload them to the iNaturalist platform during the weekend-long observation period. Following this, you can participate further by helping to identify the observations that have been contributed by others. This yearʻs identification period runs from May 3 to May 8. People from more than 400 cities around the globe will be doing the same, which together amounts to a yearly snapshot of biodiversity that is turning into an unparalleled resource for understanding biological invasions, shifting distributions, and the impact of many facets of urbanization, while also increasing engagement of community scientists.

This will be Oʻahu’s third year participating in this global effort to assemble a yearly snapshot of biodiversity. The O‘ahu CNC effort is organized by Valentina Alvarez, a student in SoLS Zoology Graduate Program, Dr. Chandra Earl, a postdoctoral fellow at the Bishop Museum, and Dr. Robert Thomson, SoLS Associate Director for Research and Chair of the Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Program.