<s>
iNaturalist	B-Application
is	O
a	O
social	O
network	O
of	O
naturalists	O
,	O
citizen	O
scientists	O
,	O
and	O
biologists	O
built	O
on	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
mapping	O
and	O
sharing	O
observations	O
of	O
biodiversity	O
across	O
the	O
globe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
iNaturalist	B-Application
may	O
be	O
accessed	O
via	O
its	O
website	O
or	O
from	O
its	O
mobile	B-Application
applications	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
users	O
had	O
contributed	O
approximately	O
115,651,000	O
observations	O
of	O
plants	O
,	O
animals	O
,	O
fungi	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
organisms	O
worldwide	O
,	O
and	O
around	O
245,700	O
users	O
were	O
active	O
in	O
the	O
previous	O
30	O
days	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
iNaturalist	B-Application
describes	O
itself	O
as	O
"	O
an	O
online	O
social	O
network	O
of	O
people	O
sharing	O
biodiversity	O
information	O
to	O
help	O
each	O
other	O
learn	O
about	O
nature	O
"	O
,	O
with	O
its	O
primary	O
goal	O
being	O
to	O
connect	O
people	O
to	O
nature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
a	O
science	O
project	O
itself	O
,	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
is	O
a	O
platform	O
for	O
science	O
and	O
conservation	O
efforts	O
,	O
providing	O
valuable	O
open	O
data	O
to	O
research	O
projects	O
,	O
land	O
managers	O
,	O
other	O
organizations	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
public	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
of	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
's	O
software	O
is	O
open	B-License
source	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
iNaturalist	B-Application
began	O
in	O
2008	O
as	O
a	O
UC	O
Berkeley	O
School	O
of	O
Information	O
Master	O
's	O
final	O
project	O
of	O
Nate	O
Agrin	O
,	O
Jessica	O
Kline	O
,	O
and	O
Ken-ichi	O
Ueda	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ueda	O
and	O
Loarie	O
are	O
the	O
current	O
co-directors	O
of	O
iNaturalist.org	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
,	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
became	O
a	O
joint	O
initiative	O
between	O
the	O
California	O
Academy	O
of	O
Sciences	O
and	O
the	O
National	O
Geographic	O
Society	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2014	O
,	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
reached	O
1	O
million	O
observations	O
and	O
there	O
were	O
115	O
million	O
observations	O
(	O
102	O
million	O
verifiable	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
interact	O
with	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
in	O
several	O
ways	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
through	O
the	O
iNaturalist.org	B-Application
website	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
iNaturalist.org	B-Application
website	O
,	O
visitors	O
can	O
search	O
the	O
public	O
dataset	O
and	O
interact	O
with	O
other	O
people	O
adding	O
observations	O
and	O
identifications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
mobile	B-Application
app	I-Application
,	O
registered	O
users	O
can	O
create	O
and	O
share	O
nature	O
observations	O
to	O
the	O
online	O
dataset	O
,	O
explore	O
observations	O
both	O
nearby	O
and	O
around	O
the	O
world	O
,	O
and	O
learn	O
about	O
different	O
species	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Seek	B-Application
by	I-Application
iNaturalist	I-Application
,	O
a	O
separate	O
app	B-Application
marketed	O
to	O
families	O
,	O
requires	O
no	O
online	O
account	O
registration	O
and	O
all	O
observations	O
may	O
remain	O
private	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
platform	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
crowdsourcing	O
of	O
observations	O
and	O
identifications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
observation	O
records	O
a	O
person	O
's	O
encounter	O
with	O
an	O
individual	O
organism	O
at	O
a	O
particular	O
time	O
and	O
place	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
observation	O
may	O
also	O
record	O
evidence	O
of	O
an	O
organism	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
animal	O
tracks	O
,	O
nests	B-Application
,	O
or	O
scat	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
scope	O
of	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
excludes	O
natural	O
but	O
inert	O
subjects	O
such	O
as	O
geologic	O
or	O
hydrologic	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
,	O
other	O
users	O
add	O
identifications	O
to	O
each	O
other	O
's	O
observations	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
confirm	O
or	O
improve	O
the	O
identification	O
of	O
the	O
observation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
quality	O
of	O
data	O
can	O
be	O
downloaded	O
from	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
and	O
"	O
Research	O
Grade	O
"	O
observations	O
are	O
often	O
incorporated	O
into	O
other	O
online	O
databases	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Global	O
Biodiversity	O
Information	O
Facility	O
and	O
the	O
Atlas	O
of	O
Living	O
Australia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
observations	O
being	O
identified	O
by	O
others	O
in	O
the	O
community	O
,	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
includes	O
an	O
automated	O
species	O
identification	O
tool	O
,	O
first	O
released	O
in	O
2017	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Images	O
can	O
be	O
identified	O
via	O
a	O
computer	B-Application
vision	I-Application
model	O
which	O
has	O
been	O
trained	O
on	O
the	O
large	O
database	O
of	O
the	O
observations	O
on	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
have	O
created	O
and	O
contributed	O
to	O
tens	O
of	O
thousands	O
of	O
different	O
projects	O
on	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
platform	O
is	O
commonly	O
used	O
to	O
record	O
observations	O
during	O
bioblitzes	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
biological	O
surveying	O
events	O
that	O
attempt	O
to	O
record	O
all	O
the	O
species	O
that	O
occur	O
within	O
a	O
designated	O
area	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
specific	O
project	O
type	O
on	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
project	O
types	O
include	O
collections	O
of	O
observations	O
by	O
location	O
or	O
taxon	O
,	O
or	O
documenting	O
specific	O
types	O
of	O
observations	O
such	O
as	O
animal	O
tracks	O
and	O
signs	O
,	O
the	O
spread	O
of	O
invasive	O
species	O
,	O
roadkill	B-Application
,	O
fishing	O
catches	O
,	O
or	O
discovering	O
new	O
species	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2011	O
,	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
was	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
platform	O
to	O
power	O
the	O
Global	O
Amphibian	O
and	O
Global	O
Reptile	O
BioBlitzes	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
observations	O
were	O
used	O
to	O
help	O
monitor	O
the	O
occurrence	O
and	O
distribution	O
of	O
the	O
world	O
's	O
reptiles	O
and	O
amphibian	O
species	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
US	O
National	O
Park	O
Service	O
partnered	O
with	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
to	O
record	O
observations	O
from	O
the	O
2016	O
National	O
Parks	O
BioBlitz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
,	O
the	O
United	O
Nations	O
Environment	O
Programme	O
teamed	O
up	O
with	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
to	O
celebrate	O
World	O
Environment	O
Day	O
..	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2022	O
,	O
Reef	O
Ecologic	O
teamed	O
up	O
with	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
to	O
celebrate	O
World	O
Oceans	O
Day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
first	O
City	O
Nature	O
Challenge	O
,	O
naturalists	O
in	O
Los	O
Angeles	O
and	O
the	O
San	O
Francisco	O
Bay	O
Area	O
documented	O
over	O
20,000	O
observations	O
with	O
the	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CNC	O
expanded	O
to	O
a	O
global	O
audience	O
in	O
2018	O
,	O
with	O
68	O
cities	O
participating	O
from	O
19	O
countries	O
,	O
with	O
some	O
cities	O
using	O
community	O
science	O
platforms	O
other	O
than	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
to	O
participate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
encourage	O
the	O
sharing	O
of	O
information	O
and	O
to	O
reduce	O
costs	O
,	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
encourages	O
users	O
to	O
license	O
media	O
with	O
Creative	O
Commons	O
licenses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Observations	O
and	O
media	O
licensed	O
with	O
Creative	O
Commons	O
licenses	O
are	O
often	O
shared	O
elsewhere	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
Global	O
Biodiversity	O
Information	O
Facility	O
(	O
excluding	O
share-alike	O
and	O
no	O
derivatives	O
licenses	O
)	O
,	O
Atlas	O
of	O
Living	O
Australia	O
,	O
and	O
Wikipedia	O
(	O
excluding	O
noncommercial	O
and	O
no	O
derivatives	O
licenses	O
)	O
through	O
regular	O
imports	O
or	O
user	O
scripts	O
such	O
as	O
iNaturalist2Commons	O
and	O
Wiki	O
Loves	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
website	O
and	O
mobile	B-Application
apps	I-Application
are	O
open-source	B-Application
software	I-Application
released	O
under	O
the	B-License
MIT	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
January	O
2022	O
,	O
more	O
than	O
2,000	O
research	O
results	O
have	O
been	O
published	O
that	O
cite	O
the	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
research-grade	O
observations	O
hosted	O
on	O
the	O
Global	O
Biodiversity	O
Information	O
Facility	O
(	O
GBIF	O
)	O
,	O
often	O
in	O
the	O
fields	O
of	O
ecology	O
,	O
conservation	O
,	O
and	O
climate	O
change	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
in	O
2015	O
,	O
data	O
from	O
iNaturalist	B-Application
was	O
used	O
to	O
show	O
that	O
the	O
Hopkin	O
's	O
rose	O
nudibranch	O
(	O
Okenia	O
rosacea	O
)	O
is	O
moving	O
northward	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
study	O
in	O
2019	O
assessed	O
the	O
relationship	O
between	O
wing	O
coloration	O
and	O
temperature	O
in	O
the	O
dragonfly	B-Application
species	O
Pachydiplax	O
longipennis	O
.	O
</s>
