Vermont Fest 2021

A BioBlitz is a fun and engaging event to catalog every living thing in a given area in a fixed amount of time. A school BioBlitz introduces students to the vital role biodiversity plays in healthy ecosystems, and gets them thinking about what can be done to improve habitat for native species on school property and around their community. Meanwhile, students learn to use easy and powerful crowdsource database technology to discover new species and become part of a worldwide scientific community.
Participants will learn tips for planning a schoolwide, individual class, or community BioBlitz, how to use the iNaturalist platform to record and identify species and connect with a global community of scientists, plus ideas for follow-up activities. Presenters include high school, middle school, and elementary school teachers who have spearheaded BioBlitzes at their schools, and a community science educator with extensive knowledge of using iNaturalist and other technologies to host BioBlitz events and analyze the data to help make future decisions around biodiversity conservation.