ISC joins the City Nature Challenge: Northerly Island

Illinois Science Council is participating in the 2021 City Nature Challenge!

Come join us for our first IN PERSON event in over a year. This species observation spree will be entirely outdoors and socially distanced, but masks will be required.

The City Nature Challenge is a 4-day bioblitz organized by the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Cities from around the world work to collect the most species observations over the course of the event. Anyone can participate on their own, but if you'd like to meet some new people while you look at plants, fungi, insects, and animals, ISC will be organizing groups at TWO locations in Chicago: West Ridge Natural Area and Northerly Island. This page is to RSVP for the NORTHERLY ISLAND location.

The City Nature Challenge logs species observations recorded in iNaturalist, a smart phone app for taking geotagged photographs of organisms that can crowdsource identifications. You don't need to be able to identify any plants or animals -- you only need your curiosity of nature and a willingness to look at the world around you.

What you need to participate:

Download the iNaturalist app on your smart phone
Wear comfortable clothes and sturdy shoes
Wear sunscreen, a hat, or other sun protection
Face mask for COVID-19 prevention

How to find us (NORTHERLY ISLAND):
ISC representatives will be near the visitors' center for 15-20 min at 2:00 pm. From there, we'll spread out to make observations.

Much more information on the overall City Nature Challenge is available here:
https://citynaturechallenge.org/

and more information about the Chicago-area plans is available from Chicago Wilderness here:
https://www.chicagowilderness.org/page/citynaturechallenge