iNaturalist aims to help improve biodiversity data

“Powered by the participation of its growing user community, iNaturalist has demonstrated its promise for connecting people to nature in ways that drive scientific and conservation insights on both local and global scales,” said Janet Coffey of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “We are delighted to support this stage of the organization’s growth.”

The grant comes at a time when the need for new approaches to biodiversity science and conservation is becoming increasingly urgent. “Climate change and land use alterations are now causing species extinctions at a rate 1,000 times faster than at any other time in history,” said Loarie. “The iNaturalist platform of apps, iNaturalist and Seek, already has millions of participants engaged in documenting biodiversity at the click of a camera. We need to connect millions more people to nature if we are to address the growing threats to biodiversity. We also need to expand the capabilities of our technology so that participation in iNaturalist translates more effectively into conservation impact.”

iNaturalist was created in 2008 as part of a graduate school thesis project. Fifteen years later, it has grown to become a mission-driven nonprofit of nearly 3 million contributors focused on building community and protecting the planet. These contributors include scientists, researchers, conservationists, teachers, and individuals all over the globe who simply love nature and use it to observe plants and animals in their natural habitats and share those observations to make positive identifications.

Since its launch, the iNaturalist community has created over 150 million verifiable observations documenting over 430,000 species. These data serve as a bedrock foundation for vital conservation decisions, contributing to more than 4,000 scientific papers.

“This gift from the Moore Foundation is a major step forward in raising the resources we need for iNaturalist to reach its goals,” said Loarie.”We hope this gift will inspire others from the community to donate to maximize the value of the grant. Together, through iNaturalist’s unique global community working to understand, document, and protect nature, we can make a profound difference in preserving our planet’s precious biodiversity.”

About iNaturalist

iNaturalist connects people to nature through its tools to help people everywhere learn more about the plants and animals around them, and share their observations to advance science and conservation. iNaturalist is an independent 501(c)(3) USA-based non-profit. Get connected with the community of scientists and nature enthusiasts who can help you learn more about biodiversity at inaturalist.org.

About the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Gordon and Betty Moore established the foundation to create positive outcomes for future generations. In pursuit of that vision, we foster path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the special character of the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit Moore.org or follow @MooreFound on Twitter.
See more breaking stories here.