Just wanted to share two recent videos, one where I interviewed panchoprieto who works with INABIO, our partners in Ecuador, and another made by a northern California doc crew that features interviews with loarie and carrieseltzer and some footage of the iNat California team in the field. Curious if you have thoughts or feedback!
I watched the second entrevista (without subtitles) and I laughed at the little bonus bit at the end, very funny.
I found it very effective in explaining several aspects of iNaturalist I had not considered or had awareness of, I think because my view is from Observer and less of the larger applications. That said, it made me more excited to continue observing, for which I am grateful, because I have been a smidge down in the mouth about moving soon and now honestly I feel a little reinvigorated, so thank you, be well. :)
was good, but nothing new or valuable compared to the many existing videos on the iNat YouTube channel. Although itās important to keep repeating these messages, so every new video has value!
The second video ā Become a Citizen Scientist! ā was more valuable, because it was hosted on a different YouTube channel: Northern California Public Media. I might not have seen the video, if you would not have shared it here.
My thoughts on the second video:
I like how Carrie framed iNat as āa giant collaborative muralā (my wording), with each of us putting our own dab of paint on a global picture of biodiversity.
I like how Scott was optimistic about the present, and therefore the future. There are many places in the world with miraculous biodiversity recovery stories, and we need to tell these stories!
In these places, present biodiversity is often higher than our parents or our grandparents remember. We need to tell these inspiring stories of hope! Remember that the river caught on fire!
As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the Cuyahoga River became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so much so that it caught fire at least 14 times. When it did so on 1969 Jun 22, news coverage of the event helped to spur the American environmental movement.
For those of us in countries that are part of the iNaturalist network, the first video has tremendous value that may not be as readily apparent perhaps to those within the US.
While that video is housed on YouTube, it could be uploaded to emails or websites as deemed useful. (I know of few key decision-making people within governmental or educational entities who watch Youtube channels as part of that process.)
The second video felt a little more like it was an introduction video, and while it was well done and visually pretty, it did not have the same emotional impact for me, though it was fun to put a face/voice to Carrie. (Scott Loarie I have had no interactions with before.)
Scott Loarie talking about changes on the river from his childhood
prompts me to flamingoes
My first year zoology prac took us down to that river. For water samples. In a river that was stagnant and dead. Some aquatic insect larvae that could survive.
Each time we drive that cloverleaf on the freeway, I am delighted to see flocks of flamingoes. We still have issues around water quality, but the birds have returned!
(I canāt like @ItsMeLucy 's comments, as the sealion ate all my hearts :~((
I like the fact that we have people responding very differently to the different videos, because that shows that the videos all have a point of view, rather than blandly trying to appeal equally to everyone.
I enjoyed the video from Ecuador because for years Iāve watched Ecuador come in towards the top whenever eBird does a global big day, and this is a little window into how much great (cool, valuable, interesting, fun) stuff the people there are also observing on iNaturalist. Iām happy for them that they get to be celebrated a little bit, too.
Thanks! It was actually on his ear for a while but I ended up cutting that part out. It was still fun to include at the end, though. No wasps were harmed in the making of the video.
Thatās the quintessential iNaturalist experience right there. āOh look, hereās a wasp!ā The only thing that would make it better would be if you stopped to take a photo of the wasp so that you could identify it later. Sooooo relatable!
Iām still wrapping my head around sealioning, but I did notice that a certain person had a knack for creating engaging post titles, which seemed to be about iNat / biodiversity in general, but always immediately came back to a certain plant genus.
It is a bit like an easter egg, no?, in that now that I review, I think I see it flying from 4:25 - 4:30.
Light bulb idea: maybe you should start embedding little easter eggs in all your videos! (I give you permission to use any of my N. perilampoides Observations for this amazing purpose.)
In all seriousness, kudos on both videos. Well done.
Thanks for the nudge - I watched the English subtitles.
Between the found extinctus and his daughterās wow the video leaves a positive and welcoming āfirstā impression of iNat. Social with science (or vice versa, but definitely both)
He spoke really clearly, I speak a lower intermediate level of Spanish and didnāt have any trouble with it. Iām lucky to catch half of a regular conversation though