City Nature Challenge: Partner with Us

Partnering with The Nat

Partner with your fellow nature nerds (that's us). Join the global effort to get people to explore our incredible region. You will be in good company, all of San Diego County is participating!

Partnering can be as simple as sharing out about the City Nature Challenge with your network, or as involved as planning an event. Scroll down to see all the ways you can get involved. We’ve done most of the work for you!

Host an event

Organize an event at your location during City Nature Challenge (April 26-April 29), encouraging your community to make iNaturalist observations
Hikes, restoration events, and festivals all provide great opportunities for making observations
Host a virtual iNaturalist training
Let us know about your event so we can post it on our event website

Not familiar with iNaturalist? We've got you covered.

Learn more

Anyone Can Help

The 2024 City Nature Challenge begins Friday, April, 26 at 12 AM PT and ends Monday, April 29 at 11:59 PM PT. Any observation made within the county during the City Nature Challenge will count toward San Diego’s total. Here are a few ways anyone can help:

Spread the word.

Reach out to members, volunteers, staff, colleagues, and friends (PDF)
Post on social media (you can easily share what we post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram)
Send an e-newsletter
Share a video about CNC in English or Spanish.

Make observations of your own during the four-day period.

Observations down to the species level increase our overall tally
Participate via the iNaturalist project page

Identify others' observations until May 5.

Help identify observations that are not yet at the species level
Visit the observations page on iNaturalist.org to begin

The Nat plans to make a formal announcement of the total number of observations made in San Diego County on Friday, May 10, via social media, so be sure to follow those platforms to see the tallied results.

Educators

Community science is a wonderful opportunity to incorporate Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) into your classroom. The City Nature Challenge really exemplifies this! Plus, the Challenge is a wonderful excuse to get students outside. Learn how to get started with students and create iNaturalist projects using the following resources:

iNaturalist Best Practices (English PDF | Spanish PDF)
Videos that share how Nat researchers use iNaturalist (plants, reptiles, and amphibians)
Use iNaturalist with Students (PDF)
City Nature Challenge Educator Toolkit
iNaturalist How-To Video
California Academy of Science Community Science Toolkit

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QUESTIONS?

Email Community Engagement Manager, Olivia Poulos.