Engage your Curiosity for Nature with Seek and iNaturalist!
Turn your curiosity for nature into environmental action in your very own backyard! iNaturalist and Seek are two free, easy-to-use mobile apps that are transforming the way we engage with the diversity of life we see outdoors. Once you start exploring, you won't want to stop! It's a fun and exciting way to learn about local biodiversity, figure out what's growing and living in your yard and inspire you to get outdoors for some fresh air. It's also a great at-home learning tool for kids wanting to interact with nature during this home study time period!
The following video series is broken down into 5 continuous sections (see below for descriptions of each) including step-by-step procedures on how to download the apps and set up accounts, field videos of how to get the species IDs you want, good troubleshooting tips and ways to get involved in protecting our local biodiversity.
**Please click here to get started and view these tutorials!**
Part 1- Introduction to Seek- Engage your Curiosity to Explore Nature!
This tutorial is designed to engage your inner curiosity and ask questions about the plants and animals you interact within nature. The video highlights some of the obstacles to classic field species identification techniques and how the fun and user-friendly mobile app, Seek by iNaturalist, can help build your species ID confidence and inspire you to want to explore! Through a series of step-by-step screenshots and descriptions, you will learn how to download the app, set up an account and begin using Seek to learn about the many organisms living in your backyard and local ecosystems.
Part 2- Field Tutorial on Seek
This tutorial demonstrates how to use the app, Seek, to get species IDs in the field. It was filmed with live screenshots to show how the app works in real-time as well as highlights the app's many interactive features, including whether the species is native/invasive, information on its distribution, how to access more information on its ecology and behavior, and some fun interactive games and challenges to take part in!
Part 3- Introduction to iNaturalist: Become a Citizen Scientist!
This tutorial takes your "Seek-ing" to the next level by introducing how to download and use the citizen science-based mobile app, iNaturalist. This video will explain the differences (and similarities) between Seek and iNaturalist, the importance of community science as a field in protecting biodiversity, and how you can get involved as a citizen scientist!
Part 4- Field Tutorial on iNaturalist
This tutorial demonstrates how to use the iNaturalist app in the field and how to post your species observations directly from Seek to iNaturalist to add to its vast citizen science database. It was filmed with live screenshots to show how the app works in real time as well as highlights iNaturalist's basic species observation features.
Part 5- Feeling Inspired? Take Action by Joining our Invasives Strike Force Team!
This tutorial explains how you can learn more about (and sign up for!) a Seek and iNaturalist-based citizen science survey program through the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference and the Lower Hudson Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management. The video also describes the basics of invasive species terminology and ecology and how YOU can get involved to help protect local biodiversity as a citizen scientist!
Interested in accessing the presentation used in these tutorials? Please click on one of the links below for either the .pdf or .pptx versions. If reusing for another training, please cite Brent Boscarino, Invasive Species Citizen Science Program Coordinator with the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference and Lower Hudson PRISM. The presentation was made possible through funds from the Environmental Protection Fund, which is administered by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.
