Do you know your
bugs, plants,
or animals?
We are seeking people with species knowledge to help us with the ID of people's observations
More information about how to identify observations is available at
BioBlitz
September - November, 2026
Helen S. Ruder Preserve, Oxford
What is a bioblitz?
A bioblitz is a communal citizen-science effort to record as many species of plants and animals within a designated location and time period as possible.
How to Take Part
Go for a walk with your phone or camera in the Preserve and make observations. An observation records an encounter with an individual organism at a particular time and location. This includes encounters with signs of organisms like tracks, nests, or things that just died.
Take clear photos of the different species of plants and animals you observe. You do not need to know what species they are, a great part about this project is that we are going to use iNaturalist to help with identification. This app/website uses crowdsourcing to identify the plants and animals. They have recently added AI to assist. It does a pretty good job at identifying species, then just by hitting one button you can submit the photo and species name to iNaturalist.
When
Please make sure to have all observations posted by November 20, 2026.
Where
Shadowy Hills Dr, Oxford, Ohio. Map
Download the Free App
Install the free iNaturalist app on your phone. Available on the App Store and Google Play.
How to Use iNaturalist
They have great info on their website on how to make observations with your phone (either apple or android), or on their website. Using the app on your phone is by far the easiest way to upload your observations, especially for those new to iNaturalist.
Create an iNaturalist Account (free)
To take part in the BioBlitz you will need to set up an iNaturalist account to be able to share your observations. Users must be 13 years or older to make an account. If you and your children want to participate, make a family account. https://www.inaturalist.org/
Using the App to Make Observations
There is a 1 minute video on how to take better photos of your observations https://vimeo.com/167341998
Uploading from the app is straightforward.
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Tap the Green + button at the bottom of the screen
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Select ID in camera
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Point the AI Camera at an organism and it will begin suggesting identifications to you. Tap the green button at the bottom to take a picture when you think it has identified the organism. Note that not every organism will be identifiable to the species level.
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From the Match Screen, tap Save if you think the main suggestion is correct, or choose from other suggestions then tap Save. The observation will be saved in the app but will not be uploaded. You can also tap on the observation, then tap its pencil icon to edit it before uploading. On the Observation Edit page you can update its location privacy, mark it as not wild, edit its identification, and more. See this help page for more information.
Import Photos From A Camera Into iNaturalist
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Connect your digital camera to your computer and transfer the image files to your hard drive.
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Go to the iNaturalist Upload Page.
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Drag and drop your camera files into the upload window or click to select files.
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If your camera does not store location, date and time you will manually need to add this information.
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Add an identification and click the green submit button
Do you know your bugs, plants, or animals?: How to Make Identifications
We are seeking people with species knowledge to help us with the ID of people's observations. If you are interested in helping with this, you can do so from your home by clicking on the project to see peoples observations. (How to https://help.inaturalist.org/en/support/solutions/articles/151000171681-how-to-use-the-identify-page).
Join Our Project
On the app
Under projects, search for Ruder Preserve BioBlitz, Fall 2026. Click it to open it and hit join. When you make observations within the Natural Area it will post to the project. You can also check out the observations made by others. You do not have to join the project to post observations. If you have locations turned on on your phone, it will automatically post to the project.
On the website
Visit the Community dropdown, then select projects. Search for Ruder Preserve BioBlitz, Fall 2026. Click it to open it to open page. The join button is located towards the top right in the "About" box. When you make observations within the Preserve it will post to the project, if the location data is provided.
After the BioBlitz
We will work hard to identify all of the observations. When one of your observations has been identified, you will be notified through iNaturalist.
Questions
Please email Lynn White.
