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Please join us for the University Farm iNaturalist BioBlitz on Saturday, April 26th!
The University Farm is a 400-acre property owned and managed by Case Western Reserve University. The University Farm is the site of many educational, research, and community events that benefit the entire CWRU community. A diversity of habitats can be found at the University Farm, including forests, meadows, agricultural areas, streams, ponds and vernal pools. To document biodiversity and seasonal change, we have created a project using the popular citizen-science app iNaturalist. The CWRU Farm Biodiversity Project currently includes over 6,600 unique observations composed of over 1,100 species. The CWRU Community is invited to join us on Saturday, April 26th to add to the CWRU Farm Biodiversity Project.
What is the City Nature Challenge?
The City Nature Challenge is a fun, multi-day challenge in which participants around the world try to document as many wild plants, animals, and fungi as they can. Participants in the 2025 CWRU Farm Biodiversity Challenge will automatically have their observations added to the Cleveland-Akron-Canton City Nature Challenge. You can help us get more observations than Pittsburgh, Columbus or Cincinnati?
How do you participate in the City Nature Challenge at the CWRU Farm?
The event will run from 12:30 PM - 5:00 PM on Saturday 26 April 2025 at the CWRU Farm. To participate, please RSVP by Wednesday 23 April. RSVP by sending an email to Brady Parlato (bpp18@case.edu ) in the CWRU Biology Department. If you are a CWRU undergraduate student, let him know if you need transportation between campus and the farm. Shuttle transportation will leave campus at 12:00 PM sharp, and arrive at the farm around 12:30 PM. To return to campus, the shuttle will leave the farm at 5:00 PM, and be back on campus by about 5:45 PM. There are a limited number of seats available on the shuttle. Once you have sent in your RSVP, Brady will provide more information on where to meet when you arrive at the farm.
Before attending the University Farm Biodiversity Challenge, you should register for an account at iNaturalist.org, join the CWRU Farm Biodiversity Project, and install the free iNaturalist app, available on the App Store and Google Play. More info can be found here. If you don't have a smartphone, you can still take digital photos and upload them later from a computer. We will show you how to use the app at the farm. We will also show you how to take photos that can help online naturalists identify what you saw. You can also add your own identifications.
What should I wear and bring to the CWRU Farm for the City Nature Challenge?
Wear clothing appropriate for the weather. This could include a rainjacket and warm clothes. The average high temperature for April 26th is 64.6⁰ F (18.1⁰ C), and the average low is 44.6⁰ F (7⁰ C). We will likely be walking on muddy trails, near streams, or around ponds, so good footwear like hiking or rain boots would be helpful. We also recommend bringing water to drink and a snack.
What if I don't know how to identify plants, animals, or fungi at the University Farm?
Don't worry! One of the great things about iNaturalist is that it will help identify your observations for you. Once you have uploaded photos to iNaturalist, an online community of naturalists will help identify your observations! Additionally, iNaturalist has an automated program that suggests likely identifications for your photos.
Will using iNaturalist use up all my data?
You can adjust the settings on the iNaturalist app so that it only uploads your observations when you are connected to a WiFi network.
Does iNaturalist reveal the locations of observations?
For the CWRU Farm Biodiversity Project, we require that participants use the "obscured" option for their observations. This prevents unauthorized people from identifying exactly where each observation was made.
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