April 24 - May 3, 2026
Join the global effort to find and document the living world around us!
The City Nature Challenge is an international challenge to observe wild organisms across the globe. This BioBlitz-style competition vies for which cities can make the most observations, find the most species, and engage the most people. From April 24th to May 3rd, Greater Chattanooga will compete in two phases:
Observation Phase (April 24 - April 27, 2026): Get outside and observe wild organisms around you! To get started, download iNaturalist for iPhone or Android and follow the prompts in-app to complete your account. Then, take photos or record sounds of plants, animals, fungi, and other wild organisms (not domesticated animals). All observations made within the 16-county greater Chattanooga region will automatically appear on our area-wide project. You can also join the project to see the observations being made.
Identification Phase (April 28 - May 3, 2026): Help identify all the observations made across Greater Chattanooga. Use your expertise to identify organisms to species (or genus, if unclear).
Schedule of Events
Friday, April 24th
8:30am to 10:30am - Birding Walk with Taylor
10:30am to 11:30am - Salamander Meander with Danielle
12:00pm to 1:00pm - Maintaining a Garden for Wildlife with Brianna
1:00pm to 2:30pm - Tree Identification with Paul
1:00pm to 2:00pm - Owl Odyssey with Taylor
1:30pm to 2:30pm - Wild Wonders: A Guided Tour of Our Wildlife Sanctuary
3:00pm to 4:00pm - Little Sprouts Gardening Lesson with Health and Social Services
5:00pm to 7:00pm - Guided Eco-Hike with Kayla
8:30pm to 10:30pm - Blacklight Insect Identification with Dr. Tommy McElrath
Saturday, April 25th
9:00am to 10:00am - Winged Wisdom: Understanding Birds of Prey with Taylor
9:00am to 9:45am & 10:00am to 10:45am - Fishing with the Tennessee Aquarium (*Bring your own rods)
9:00am to 9:45am & 10:00am to 10:45am - Herpetology with the Tennessee Aquarium
11:00am to 3:00pm - Macroinvertebrate Demo with Elaine and Mickey
11:00am to 12:00pm & 1:00pm to 2:00pm - Wild Wonders: A Guided Tour of Our Wildlife Sanctuary
11:00am to 11:45am & 1:00pm to 1:45pm - How to Observe: Plants & Insects with the Tennessee Aquarium
1:00pm to 2:00pm - Owl Odyssey with Taylor
2:00pm to 3:30pm - Woodland Walk with Paul
3:00pm to 4:30pm - Critter Crawl with Kel
Sunday April 26th
8:00am to 12:00pm - Bird Banding with Dr. David Aborn
Monday April 27th
8:30am to 10:00am & 1:00pm to 2:30pm - iNaturalist Hike at Crabtree Farms with Corey
Thank You to Our Contributing Partners
