At this point, I think your IDs are just as solid as the older folks. It’s great to have you helping out so much!
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I know of one user who must be under 13 because it says in his account’s moderation history that he had a parent’s legal permission granted. He doesn’t seem to cause any trouble and has helped ID things for me plenty of times! I’m glad they have a way to allow younger kids use the site because I would be sad to see somebody like the kid I am referring to not be able to use the site when he clearly just wants to contribute positively.
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I first joined iNat in October of last year. It was exciting but also a bit daunting. Slowly, I met more and more fellow iNatters, many of who are younger. Over a few months, my confidence grew and I had this whole inter group of passionate birders, supporting each other and helping with ID. I’ve learnt a lot from them. They help keep iNat fun!
Special thanks to nflicker101, greenari, skipperdogman, bk-capchickadee12, caterpillar511, raymie, and liamthornebirderboy for help with ID’s
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I’m year 10. 14 turning 15 and have been on Inat for around two and a half years. I love Inatralist and the forum. I have learned so much since I joined Inat. When I first joined Inat I was kinda lost and didn’t know what I was doing, but after a bit of help from lloyd_esler and a lot of help from skipperdogman I quickly got into identifying birds in New Zealand and am now proud to be one of the best at it.
Thanks guys, Looking forward to next year’s competition
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Thank you! 
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Yesterday I see you are now an iNat Curator!
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Though I’m not quite as young as I was when I first joined the world of iNaturalist (I’ll be turning 21 in July of this year), it’s a bit crazy to reflect back on my experience here. If not for iNat and the community around it, I never would have gotten as involved in nature as I am today. In fact, it is thanks to eBird and iNaturalist that I am currently wrapping up my undergrad in Wildlife Ecology and doing my own research on ectoparasitic bird lice, of which I also have to thank for my status as a curator here. If these platforms hadn’t been introduced to me when they were, there’s a very good chance I’d instead be finishing my junior year as a mechanical engineering major, still without a clue about all the wonderful species this world has.
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When I was in high school, a mere 50 years ago, I knew a lot more about a few things than the average human. I’m glad to say now that you know a lot more about some things than I do. I appreciate your IDs of my observations and also your other contributions to iNaturalist!
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Hello Ian and so pleased to meet you. I am new to iNaturalist and don’t know my way around but your posting is quite touching. I agree with you - these young people are our best hope - not just for their observations, but because they are truly inspiring - and if they inspire an old guy like me, perhaps many more of their own age will be too?
One can only hope. In the meantime, your recognition is so valuable. Thank you!
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I’m pleased to meet you as well, and thank you for you comment. If you need to find your way around iNat I’m willing to help, but the young whippersnappers know a lot more about it than me!
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As a high schooler on iNat, the ability to work with people with massive amounts of research under their belt just through a website is extremely valuable, I’m glad to get some recognition for the young naturalists!
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Welcome, @wrc_crew ! I am always impressed by the engagement and knowledge of so many young people here. I, too, appreciate being part of community with people of diverse ages and backgrounds. :)
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Some of the young inatters have a group of their own. Young Naturalists’ Community.
In India there are a bunch of young identifiers (and observers). Many of them handling their normal school work and also contributing immensely. Two of them who stand out are naturalist_aditya and odonut with a special mention for samrudhnandgopal who is pretty awesome with birds.
And then there are the founders @featherenthusiast and karakaxa, of the Found Feathers Project https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/found-feathers). I am fairly sure they were fairly young when the started the project.
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Yes, I know of the two young women who started Found Feathers (I actually approved @karakaxa 's request to join the Facebook Bird Misidentification Page), and have corresponded with @odonut! I taught him some stuff about moths, and he taught me stuff about Odonata. I think it is wonderful, and have nothing but respect for them.
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The most knowledgeable naturalists we know personally are all 22 or younger. They have paid summer jobs like tending prairies and surveying butterflies. Their college majors are biology and environmental studies. We will mention one of these accomplished naturalists whose inat profile mentions age: @matthewt6416. This naturalist is very helpful on inat and very knowledgeable.
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I’ve been really impressed by the contributions of many young naturalists on iNat. It’s clear that age is not relevant when it comes to the degree of devotion that a given individual puts into their contributions. I’ve really felt, in my own experience, the importance of respecting your elders in the field (especially if you’re dealing with organisms that take generations to study), but never at the expense of discounting the contributions and potential of the next generation. We are all part of a continuity of learning.
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@pasindu_dilshan was interviewed on Sri Lanka’s Youth Corner TV show (he’s introduced at around 4:36 and there are a few cool musical interludes performed by young musicians) and spoke about iNat and Citizen Science. The interview is in Sinhala and YouTube doesn’t seem to provide auto-translated subtitles (at least for Sinhala → English) but iNaturalist is mentioned a lot, as well as citizen science, and they show a bunch of Pasindu’s photos. It could be the first mention of iNat on Sri Lankan national television.
I reached out to Pasindu about the interview and he said
in Sri Lanka, Citizen Science is not a really familiar thing with people even after having a really high species diversity based on the island. So my aim is to encourage young people (just like me) to be more familiar with Citizen Science and follow their path. I mainly talked about iNaturalist as I love iNaturalist. This is the place where encouraged me to observe more and observe around my garden.
Anyway, really cool to see, and thanks Pasindu!
(Oh, and Pasindu and Chaturi Jayatissa, among others, were featured in this Mongabay article about iNat and Sri Lanka last year)
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