Pulling off a National Geographic BioBlitz involves a lot of people: park rangers, scientist volunteers, thousands of K-12 students, a lot of curious visitors, and online observers. And it is an all-hands-on-deck kind of event—using technology we are able to crowd source the identification of species, so specialists and naturalists not at the park can…
As the sun shines high noon over New Orleans today, a group of more than one thousand scientists, students, and curious people will spread out across the Barataria Preserve (a section of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve) as part of the 2013 National Geographic BioBlitz—their goal: identify and count as many species as…
By Sean O’Connor Artificial lights flood the night sky, making the urban and suburban lives that so many of us live a little brighter, but not necessarily for the better. Light pollution also drowns out the sea of stars shining through our atmosphere. Who doesn’t love to look up at the night sky and…
By Sean O’Connor Scientists have been observing and recording information about plants and animals from at least time time of Pliny the Elder, the Roman naturalist from 2,000 years ago, with a penchant for fish farming and the medicinal use of spices. But what’s different about the onslaught of scientists’ observations at the 2010 Bioblitz…
By Sean O’Connor Biscayne National Park, Florida–Migratory birds heading north to breeding grounds in higher latitudes are common visitors to the Florida Keys. Robin Diaz of the South Florida Bird Observatory tags an American redstart on Elliot Key in Biscayne National Park earlier today. This little guy is a two-year-old male with almost zero fat…