Photos from the projects: Many are available as greeting cards at the NCNC giftshop.
By Frank Gallo
New Canaan Nature Center (NCNC) has embarked on two biodiversity projects with support from the New Canaan Community Foundation. As the Nature Center’s Senior Naturalist, I am conducting ongoing natural history surveys at NCNC, and at New Canaan Land Trust’s Browne Preserve on Valley Road. I am using iNaturalist and eBird apps to record sightings to create a baseline database from which informed management decisions can be made. And you can help by visiting these sites and recording what you find.
iNaturalist is a social network of citizen scientists, naturalists, and biologists designed to map and share biological observations and information worldwide. According to Wikipedia, as of 5 August 2025, iNaturalist had 400,000 users who had contributed nearly 300 million observations of organisms from across the globe. Most of its software and data are open source, providing valuable information for biodiversity and biological research, conservation, and education. iNaturalist data has contributed to more than 4000 research papers and is utilized worldwide by scientists, conservation organizations, and land managers.
Founded in 2008 as the Master’s Final Project of Nathan Agrim, Jessica Kine, and Kenichi Ueda at UC Berkeley’s School of Information, it was expanded into a joint initiative between the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society in 2017. In July 2023, it became an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit that now employs 74 people as of August 2025.
One of iNaturalist’s stated goals is to “create extensive community awareness of local biodiversity and promote further exploration of local environments.” Its aim is to bring together people from all walks of life with different experiences, perspectives, and expertise who share an appreciation of nature and can learn together about the biodiversity of our world. It provides the community with a means to record and organize sightings worldwide, and makes them available to researchers, conservationists, and educators across the globe.
How can you contribute directly to our knowledge of biodiversity at NCNC and Browne Preserve? First, download the iNaturalist app onto your phone and set up an account. Then, whenever you see something interesting at either NCNC or Browne Preserve, whether a slug, an ant, or a Great Blue Heron, open the app and use it to photograph (using your phone’s camera) and to help identify what you have found. You can also use a separate camera and upload the images to iNaturalist at home. Nothing is too small or insignificant. Once saved, your sightings will be added directly to our Biodiversity Project database for that specific site. More than 550 species have been recorded on iNaturalist at NCNC so far with the help of 52 participants. Although the Browne Preserve project just began this fall, 11 participants have already amassed a list of 115 species on iNaturalist.
An Important Note: Please only identify to the species level if you are certain of the identification, but don’t worry if you can’t identify a species. iNaturalist has expert reviewers who help classify something if you are uncertain. If you are unsure of an ID, it’s best to record your observation in a more general category for others to review. If all you can say is that it’s a plant, then put “plant.” This tells plant reviewers to have a look. There’s no need to guess. As iNaturalist is a worldwide database, it can be used anywhere to record sighting and contribute to our overall knowledge of what lives around us.
Although birds can be recorded using iNaturalist (and please do so if you can), I record bird sightings using eBird, a global citizen science database created in 2002 by Cornell University and the National Audubon Society. When I record a bird in iNaturalist, I also record it in eBird as it’s the master database we use for birds. As with iNaturalist, sightings are reviewed by area experts. iNaturalist requires photographs or recordings, however, eBird does not, although they are encouraged. Unlike iNaturalist, eBird works best if the user has a working knowledge of bird life in our area before recording sightings. More than a 2 billion bird sightings and 3 million audio recordings of bird songs and calls have been entered into eBird worldwide as of 2025.
A sister app to eBird, called Merlin, can help one to identify the birds heard or seen using AI, but it is only 70-80% accurate. Please do not submit lists based solely on Merlin, or with species of which you are uncertain, unless you recorded it as such and there are photos that can be reviewed.
The eBird app can be downloaded from the app store, google play, and from the eBird home page. Once you create an account, just visit the sites and record what you see. eBird is most useful when you add your sightings, to a “hot spot”, rather than using a personal location. “Hot spots” compile everyone’s sightings for a given site. When you submit your list, you’ll be able to choose the closest “hot spot” from a drop-down menu on eBird. To contribute to our databases, choose the “New Canaan Nature Center” or “Browne Wildlife Sanctuary” “hot spots.” That way, your sightings are added to the overall site lists and can be seen by others. The NCNC eBird list has 179 species, and the eBird list for Browne Preserve stands at 116 species.
Thank you for adding to our knowledge! Your contributions make a huge difference to our overall understanding of what’s living at NCNC and Browne Preserve. The more participants, the more we find! Come join the fun.
If you have questions about either project or on how you can contribute, contact Frank Gallo at fgallo@newcanaannature.org.
If you would like to track either project’s progress, you can join a project (not required to enter sightings) by going to www.iNaturalist.org. At the top of the page, click on Community. Click on Projects. Type in the name of the project you want to join. Click on Join this Project above the Add Observations box.
Links to both projects: NCNC: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/new-canaan-nature-center-s-biodiversity-project
Browne: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=browne-preserve-biodiversity-project.
Frank Gallo is the Senior Naturalist at the New Canaan Nature Center, where he leads environmental education programs, wildlife research, and citizen science initiatives that connect the community to the natural world. A seasoned birder, field biologist, and educator, Frank brings decades of experience in conservation and environmental outreach across Connecticut. Whether guiding early-morning bird walks, leading biodiversity surveys, or inspiring students to look more closely at the world around them, he’s dedicated to helping people discover the wonder just outside their doors.
Reach Frank at fgallo@newcanaannature. org or visit www.newcanaannature.org to learn more about his ongoing work at the Nature Center.