Great Lakes Literacy’s 5th Annual Great Lakes BioBlitz

Students, families, and colleagues are invited to celebrate Earth Day with the Center for Great Lakes Literacy’s 5th annual Great Lakes BioBlitz.

This free event is an opportunity to engage youth and the public in community science, collect data to support biodiversity research and conservation, and learn more about the organisms in the Great Lakes Basin.

What is the Great Lakes BioBlitz?
A free event that focuses on finding and identifying as many wild, living things as possible that are located along a Great Lakes coastline during a specified period of time.

When is the Great Lakes BioBlitz?
The BioBlitz begins on Earth Day, April 22 and it runs for 4 weeks, ending on May 20.

How do I participate in the Great Lakes BioBlitz?
The beauty of this project is that you decide your level of participation. Take an afternoon to explore and document some plants or wildlife in an area, or pick a location to return to weekly, or set a goal to find something new every day – there are many ways to participate.

You may participate as an individual, a family, a class, or other group. 

1. Visit iNaturalist or download the app onto your phone and create an account.
2. Visit and become a member of the 2024 Great Lakes BioBlitz project
3. Get outside, get out your cameras, and start making and posting observations! As you are able, verify other participants’ Great Lakes BioBlitz Project postings.

Want to learn more about the Great Lake BioBlitz?
Visit the Great Lakes BioBlitz Educator Google Site for more information about the project and educator resources for engaging youth in this wonderful learning experience!

Want to learn more about how research uses data from iNaturalist?
Register for and attend the 2024 Great Lakes BioBlitz Webinar featuring guest scientist Michelle Kenton of the University of Wisconsin! Join us April 10, at 5:00 PM-5:30 PM Eastern 4:00PM to 4:30PM Central), on Zoom to learn about how Michelle uses iNaturalist to support her research in better identifying native jewelweeds. Michelle is a student researcher at UW-Madison who used iNaturalist data on the leaf shape and color indicative of North American jewelweed. Her presentation will discuss the varieties of samples she has collected on iNaturalist and how she utilizes this information to strengthen methods of native jewelweed identification. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Please contact Anne Moser at akmoser@aqua.wisc.edu or (608) 262 3069 if you have any questions regarding registration, the webinar, or have accommodations and accessibility requests. Register for webinar: https://go.wisc.edu/xjy402

Why participate?
There are many benefits of becoming a BioBlitz wizard, here are just a few:

• Engage in an outdoor activity, discover the wild living things in the world around you, form and strengthen a place-based connection
• Join a global community of observers, learners, and scientists passionate about biodiversity and the Great Lakes
• Contribute to a global database of organisms. Observations made on iNaturalists contribute to research, conservation, and educational outreach programs