So as of yesterday, curators can no longer make another user a curator. We’ve seen too many examples of people making inexperienced users curators, people be made curators without even asking to be one, and users who have lost their curator status due to community guideline violations be immediately made curators again by their friends. Unfortunately it’s just not a tenable situation. Going forward, only iNaturalist staff and network site admins can make someone a curator.
We’re finalizing a curator application page to streamline the process and make clear to everyone what curators can and cannot do, as well as who should apply to be a curator. That should be out soon.