Embrace the healing power of nature! The City Nature Challenge is back in Pittsburgh for 2024. Using the free iNaturalist app, let’s work together virtually with cities around the world to safely document biodiversity in whatever way we can, even at home or in our neighborhoods.
Kicking off April 26, the challenge runs to the end of the day April 29. Participation is easy! All you need is a camera and the free iNaturalist app (a camera phone or tablet if you have one).
Identification of the photographed species will be crowd-sourced through the online community April 30 – May 5.
Educators: Share the City Nature Challenge with your students. Everything you need to get started is right here in this toolkit, and it can be easily adapted for distance learning.
April 26 – April 29: Make Nature Observations!
City Nature Challenge Observation Blogs
Botanists Gone Wild! Perspectives from the Record-Breaking Finish for City Nature Challenge 2024
by Jessica Romano Every spring people all over the world join in the City Nature Challenge, a global effort to safely document …Read More »
City Nature Challenge: Noticing Invasive Plants
by Rachel Reeb and Jessica Romano This spring, thousands of people will join the City Nature Challenge, a global effort to document …Read More »
Snags, Logs, and the Importance of a Fallen Tree
by Jessica Romano As the seasons change from winter to spring here in western Pennsylvania, a common sight on a recent walk …Read More »
Building Birding Skills
by Patrick McShea Today is National Go Birding Day, a designation that prompts questions about how best to become involved in such …Read More »
City Nature Challenge: A 2022 Reflection
by Patrick McShea This year marked the fifth consecutive year that CMNH has sponsored the City Nature Challenge (CNC). One benefit of participation in the …Read More »
Using iNaturalist in the City Nature Challenge and beyond
by Patrick McShea Participation in this year’s City Nature Challenge (CNC), April 28–May 1, 2023, is a great way to familiarize yourself with iNaturalist, …Read More »
April 30 – May 5: Help Identify Other Observations!
The Great Roly-Poly
April showers may bring May flowers, but they also create the perfect moist conditions for one of my favorite garden residents—the humble …Read More »
Field Guides: An Introduction
How do we identify birds? Some, like this Northern Cardinal, are easy because they are very distinctive. Others, like this lineup of …Read More »
Collected on this Day in 1998: Spontaneous mints in your backyard
by Mason Heberling This specimen of purple dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum) was collected on April 17, 1998 by Kevin McGowan and Meggan Scanlon …Read More »
