Swaner Preserve EcoCenter invites the community to get outside, take some photos and participate in the global community-science adventure called the City Nature Challenge. The four-day event runs from Friday, April 24, to Monday, April 27, and encourages people to find and photograph plants an d wildlife using the iNaturalist app, said Brianna Cencak, Swaner Preserve EcoCenter experience coordinator. “It’s a great way to get outside to observe nature all around you, whether that’s on a hike, at the park or even in your own backyard,” she said. “Swaner is a part of Utah’s Wasatch project, which includes Box Elder, Cache, Carbon, Davis, Salt Lake, Summit, Utah, Wasatch and Weber counties. Other local participating organizations that will host events include Natural History Museum of Utah, Tracy Aviary, Wasatch Mountain Institute and the Salt Lake Public Library.” During last year’s event, Utah’s Wasatch boasted 482 participants with more than 15,000 observations, and this year the Swaner Preserve EcoCenter offers different ways for people to get involved, according to Cencak. “From Friday to Sunday people can stop by the EcoCenter between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to get an overview of the City Nature Challenge from (one of our) naturalists, grab a backpack and head out to make observations,” she said. “The backpack will contain tools and resources to help you look closer, like binoculars, magnifying glasses and bug catchers.” Once armed with the backpack, families and individual participants can choose to stick close to the EcoCenter by going out on the back deck or venturing out on the preserve’s 1-mile Wetland Discovery Trail. “We do want people to come to Swaner and engage with the app, but if you aren’t able to get to the Swaner you can still participate by going through a walk in your neighborhood or near where you live,” said Hunter Klingensmith, the nonprofit’s director of of visitor experience and exhibits. “(The challenge) is open to anyone to participate within any of the counties that Bri listed, and there are also cities all over the world that are participating.” The key is the iNaturalist app, Klingensmith said. “If you are observing within those counties and you upload to the app, your information will be automatically added to the challenge,” she said. Also, the uploaded photos need to be wild plants and animals, according to Klingensmith. “You can upload cultivated plans and animals, but they won’t be added to the list,” she said. “You also don’t have to know what the species are. You can just upload them and others will help to identify them. There is also an AI tool that does some help with identifying, and then they will be certified by other people and researchers in the community. And the information is used by scientists to learn what is in the area.” The EcoCenter’s Sunday Craft that runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. that weekend will add another element to the City Nature Challenge, Cencak said. “(It) will be an upcycled nature journal to help encourage kids to draw their observations,” she said. Cencak looks forward to this year’s City Nature Challenge because of the plant and animal activity due to the mild winter. “We’ve already seen wildflowers blooming on the north side (of the preserve), and there’s an abundance of birds you can view from the back deck at the EcoCenter,” she said. “We’ve even seen garter snakes and tiger salamanders in the Demonstration Garden.” While the City Nature Challenge is a fun way to engage the public in community-based science, it also helps participants and the Swaner staff better understand biodiversity in local ecosystems, said Rhea Cone, director of conservation. “I look at iNaturalist as a land manager and find out what people are seeing in the area, both on and off the preserve,” she said. “I check this at least weekly, which helps inform our decisions in what we want to do with our programming. I see what plants are coming up and the interesting birds and other animals, so it has an immediate impact on the Swaner. We upload things, and we appreciate it when others upload things, because it helps us.”For information about the City Nature Challenge that runs April 24-27, visit citynaturechallenge.org, inaturalist.org and extension.usu.edu/swaner. The post Swaner Preserve EcoCenter seeks community scientists appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less