Maricopa County Parks and Recreation: Discovery Station – Join the City Nature Challenge

Stop by an information table where Ranger Jacque will teach you how to use your phone to identify and document your nature findings to help the scientific community. Love nature but don’t know what plants and animals live in the desert? Take the guessing game out of naming your finds and learn how to identify desert life by using THE best and free naturalist apps available today, particularly the iNaturalist app*. The app’s computer recognition with help you identify your observations with verification by an expert, so anyone can do it! This is a casual, come-and-go discovery station, not a structured program. Make sure to bring your smart phone and/or camera (phone not required). *Due to limited connectivity in parks, it’s advised to download the iNaturalist app while on wi-fi before arriving at the park. Then, become a park citizen scientist on April 26-29 for the City Nature Challenge, an international effort that encourages all citizens to find and document plants and wildlife on iNaturalist in cities across the globe. This bioblitz-style competition challenges local communities to make the most observations in nature during this 4-day period, and then this data is available for science, management, and conservation. For more info, check out www.citynaturechallenge.org. No registration required. Ranger will be at Waterfall Trailhead between 8:00am-11:00am.