Tim Sherratt2d ago
Pamela Fox

Have fun this weekend with a little citizen science, join the city nature challenge!
If you observe any flora/fauna that's *not* a human/dog/cat, upload your pic to iNaturalist, ID it, and help ID other pics:

https://www.citynaturechallenge.org/

(It's fun! It's basically my only hobby right now, lol)

City Nature Challenge

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Apr 24 at 3:56amWeb
Show threadHarry Wood3d ago
@pamelafox @SK53 Looks like fun!
I just sent the website makers a message, because I think they should include a little FAQ entry clarifying that #iNaturalist observations data is released as #opendata.
I'm immediately suspicious of any organisation asking volunteers to collect data (and we should encourage others to be suspicious when it comes to volunteering their time & effort), but in this case there is a good positive answer for those who go looking for it!
Show threadSK533d ago

@harry_wood I know @mhaklay is a keen contributor.

Verified UK observations go through to iRecord (run by @ultrazool's employers, CEH) and to @gbif so it's well integrated into national & international datasets.

Some national data, eg, in NBN Atlas requires permission from individual data suppliers which is a PITA. Historically, local record centres got fee income from the data, which they don't want to lose. Understandably, as many are funded by local councils.

Show threadMuki Haklay3d ago
@SK53 @harry_wood @ultrazool @gbif Indeed, it is all open data and you can select the licence for your images. It's actually a great project - and very much like OSM. You can see my page at https://www.inaturalist.org/people/muki
muki's Profile

Working at University College London, in the Extreme Citizen Science group.

iNaturalist
Show threadPamela Fox2d ago
@harry_wood @SK53 nice, glad to hear they're opendata! I generally am a fan of inaturalist but hadnt dug into that part.
Show threadSK532d ago
@harry_wood Another #iNaturalist & OpenStreetMap contributor is @valhikes (and I'd guess much closer to @pamelafox )