iNaturalist in the New York Times

Many thanks for the fine article, iNat does prove the internet can be useful, AND friendly. My late friend Greg Lasley was an early iNatter, and spent many hours on our place just west of Austin, TX. He loved to roam the 400-acres and document what he saw. He also brought a group of iNatters out here 6-7 years ago, each had a different interest area of the natural world.

When we applied for our conservation easement some years ago, all the observations provided solid evidence of what species existed within the land’s boundaries. (Search iNat for “los madrones” to see the observations.)

thank you again,
Mike Murphy

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Hello, Mike. I have not been on iNat for very long but I am familiar with Greg Lasley’s name and just a few weeks ago I made a post @greglasley because he was listed as a top identifier of the organism in question. So many people on iNat are just names to me and this post of yours was a peek behind the name. May I ask when he passed?

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Congratulations iNaturalist! I was so proud of this community when I read it last night, and just brought in The NYT-- there it is on the front page! Exploring the outdoors and posting my observations is a big part of my life almost every day, especially since Covid. I’m also active with other groups, like Amnesty International, who just sent me a survey about wellbeing (they’re conducting with Greenpeace). They want ideas for activists to avoid burnout, and asked for links to websites that helped. I suggested iNaturalist.

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https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/46021-rest-in-peace-greg

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Thanks.

Yesterday (2022-12-10), NYTimes published an article titled “The Surprising Health Benefits of Bird-Watching”. Granted that the 2022-12-10 article was focused on avian fauna in particular, whereas the excellent article by @amy_harmon applies to a much broader taxa, I was a little surprised not to see iNaturalist mentioned (the Merlin Bird ID app by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology was mentioned), so I inserted a comment that pointed to @amy_harmon’s article. I also explicitly mentioned iNaturalist in my comment to afford iNaturalist the attention that I think it is due.

What I liked about both articles is the notion of community building, which I thought was more explicit in Amy’s article. iNaturalist is also a good mechanism to imbue, subconsciously or consciously, the benefits of peer review and evidence-based approaches. And just being honest when one doesn’t know the answer to a question.

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It’s always good to see iNat in the news, but I was especially pleased to see this aspect of it highlighted. I do not really have time to spend as much time as I do here, and yet I keep coming back, and will keep coming back, because learning and chatting and collaborating with y’all is so fun and so pleasant! Thanks to all who have set that tone and established the culture of community and civility that predominates.

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What I’ve come to appreciate about iNatting (there, I just verbed again) are the lessons that take much more than a few mouse clicks to appreciate. In fact, that’s a big one, for me.

We are all part of a fascinating continuum that goes far beyond our human lifespans. Stop, look, and listen. And… think and try to understand what you observed.

If only we could look at each other with the same curiosity and will to develop understanding! Perhaps the great mystery around the meaning of life might just well be to work on understanding the life of all this meaning.

Sometimes I’m reminded of the story of Robert Stroud, the famous Birdman of Alcatraz. Talk about the transformative power of nature study!

In so many countless ways, iNat is transforming and reconnecting humanity with the natural world in a purely bottom-up fashion–one observation, one observer at a time.

It’s a simple idea (not so simple to implement) but a very powerful one because of that simplicity.

Happy understanding building!

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Thanks @amy_harmon, I thought the combination of voices that ended up being included was great.

If you’re willing to pull back the curtain a bit, I would love to hear more from you on how the story came together on the inside. What questions did the editorial/fact checking/etc staff ask about iNat as the article was being written? Did the direction of the article change at all from when it was originally “pitched” to when you started talking to more and more iNat’rs? Were you expecting it be on the front page of the print version – how did that feel when you found out? Just curious! Anything you are willing to share about the process would be cool.

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Great article. If you can read Dutch earch for iNaturalist in the comments. About Angry White men and World peace. https://www.geenstijl.nl/5168196/de-boze-blanke-man-de-kwaadaardige-bleekscheten-van-d66/

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I felt so proud about being a part of iNat after reading the article. Sometimes those of us who love iNat can’t put why into words. Maybe this is why, and what most people are looking for in life. Not just nature but a safe community to share their being with, and to learn from. I always have believed that an organization is the reflection of those who created and manage it, so many thanks to the creators and curators of iNat for what all of us love here so much. And yes, it is love.

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I had a “you know you’re seriously into iNat” crossover moment when I turned over today’s newspaper and saw- oak galls? Instant reaction before seeing any of the words- will this be about iNat or what? …Yeah! Then turn the page and there’s even @megachile quotes!

How did I get into oak galls more in the first place? iNat. The plant/animal/fungus quiz item I recognized too? From an early personal “figuring out weird stuff” episode at iNat.

Thanks for all the positive interactions everyone! ;)

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I also loved the article, @amy_harmon. Right from the start, on reading the byline about “unironic elation,” I knew you “got” the iNat magic! :D Echoing others here, I like how it conveyed something that I’d had trouble communicating to my family and friends about why iNat is so meaningful to me.

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Fantastic Article! Love being part of this community! I use Seek and Merlin Bird ID everyday on my walks and when I can’t identify something I know the iNaturalist Community will help me solve the mystery. :heart:

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I am so proud to be part of this community. When I saw the article in the NYT, I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face. I hope it brings even more participants to our circles.

Even my husband was impressed!

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iNaturalist ia a safe space where I am validated in my love for learning about my love of nature–where I receive the gift of knowledge with every post!

As an example of the kindness found on iNaturalist, I posted a blurry but identifiable photo of a mourning cloak (I barely pulled off the shot altogether) where it was happily identified. I also received a link to this fabulous article about the mourning cloak where I learned even more about these “distinctive aviators”:

https://www.tehachapinews.com/lifestyle/pen-in-hand-mourning-cloak-a-distinctive-and-exceptional-butterfly/article_c2e7e7be-c4ce-11ec-af2e-bffd84a4affc.html

iNaturalist also reinforces that there are many that also care deeply about biodiversity and are committed to advocating for it in a multitude of ways.

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Proud of everyone who contributed!

Although that shoehorned mention of the " debates " in other online spaces is the most NYT thing ever. The reason we’re all chill here is that it does not fundamentally matter very much if a yellow-legged gull is labelled as a lesser black-backed gull. ‘Should other people have human rights?’ is not the same sort of conversation!

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Nice article!
Interestingly the NY Times, whose job is to sell its audience to advertisers (https://advertising.nytimes.com/), fails to mention the fact that many of the places that can keep a civil discourse on the internet are ad-free. Polemics, trolls and polarizing contents increase engagement which means greater profits from ads so it’s only natural that platforms with advertising are tearing society apart…

Thank you Inat for being a healthy ad-free site!

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I agree with the main point here, but also think it’s interesting that for many iNat users, the ID of gull1 vs. gull2 is something that they are really invested in (much more so than an average member of the general public at least). Some people really do care quite a bit (and do occasionally lose their cool on iNat because of it). Using iNat also is a big part of some people’s identities as experts in or guardians of some part of biodiversity either in their jobs or volunteer time. For those folks, the direct connection of iNat to a key part of their life might carry a similar weight or emotional attachment as a discussion of other “big” topics somewhere else online/irl. So I guess my point is that while I think the focus of iNat on biodiversity is a reason that the community is more civil than other online forums, it’s not the only reason.

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This is the kick in the pants I needed. After finding a couple of “first known photo of” insects in October, I started to write a press release to send to local news outlets. But it’s one of those things that hasn’t been at the top of the list of priorities, so has not yet happened. Yet…

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