Enthusiastically led by local legend Craig Martin, PEEC and Bee City Los Alamos are part of a Citizen Science Initiative using the iNaturalist app to track pollinators in Los Alamos County. Using the app on a mobile device or home computer, participants can upload photos of their observations of pollinators and plants, adding to a map and database of Los Alamos. This is a critical tool in tracking the abundance, or lack, of native flora and fauna in Los Alamos County.Our first initiative started on Earth Day, April 20th, 2024. Any observation of plants, bees, butterflies and hummingbirds located in Los Alamos County were entered into the iNaturalist platform and automatically became part of the project. Bee City and other citizens are participating again this year, and hope to add to the data collection by uploading as many photo observations as we collectively can.
Here’s how you can become a Pollinator Tracker:
- Participants must have the app iNaturalist, but they don’t have to join the project to have their observations included. All observations posted with the location of Los Alamos County will be included in the project. iNaturalist’s AI will provide an ID for most species, but there are other New Mexico “amateur experts” who will confirm ID’s or suggest corrections (pollinators will likely be to the genus level, but plants can be to species). Non-native species will be identified as such.
- Read Craig’s introduction to this year’s Pollinators of Los Alamos iNaturalist Project on the Bee City Blog.
- There is a tutorial on iNaturalist on the Friends of Bandelier website at: https://www.bandelierfriends.org/blog (Scroll about halfway down the page.)
- Contact Britton at coordinator@beecitylosalamos with questions.