City Nature Challenge 2023
Join us for the 2023 City Nature Challenge! Join us for events and programs you can participate Friday afternoon and all day Saturday.
Join our staff as we participate in the 2023 City Nature Challenge along with over 500 cities worldwide! The City Nature Challenge is an international effort for people to find and document plants and wildlife in cities across the globe. It’s a bioblitz-style competition where cities compete to see who can make the most observations of nature, who can find the most species, and who can engage the most people.
Want to get started? It’s easy!
The City Nature Challenge is an international effort to document nature in cities that will be taking place from April 28 to May 7, 2023. The CNC takes place in two phases; an observation phase and then an identification phase.
Download iNaturalist for iPhone or Android. Follow the prompts in-app to get set up. You may want to read this “Getting Started” guide as well.
Get out and observe wild organisms from April 28 - May 1, 2023: Take pictures (or record sounds!) of wild plants and animals.
All observations within the 16-county greater Chattanooga region will automatically roll up to our project. Feel free to join the project to stay on top of what’s been observed.
May 2 - May 7, 2023: help to identify what was found. We have another project collecting observations that still need identification. Join the “needs id” project if you’d like to help.
Join our fun and free events at Reflection Riding.
Schedule of Identification Events for Friday the 28th:
4:00 pm-5:00 pm: iNaturalist Training
5:00 pm-6:00 pm: iNaturalist Training
7:00 pm-8:00 pm: Nature's Golden Hour
8:00 pm-9:00 pm: Black-lighting for Bugs
9:00 pm-10:00 pm: Owl Prowl
Schedule of Identification Events for Saturday the 29th:
8:00 am-12:00 pm: Bird Banding with Dr. David Aborn
9:00 am-10:00 am: Waking up with the Birds
11:00 am-12:00 pm: iNaturalist Training
1:00 pm-2:00 pm: Plant Identification
2:00 pm-3:00 pm: Pond Life
5:00 pm-6:00 pm: iNaturalist Training
7:00 pm-8:00 pm: Nature's Golden Hour
8:00 pm-9:00 pm: Black-lighting for Bugs
9:00 pm-10:00 pm: Owl Prowl
These programs will happen outdoors, so don't forget to dress for the weather, wear sturdy shoes and bring along anything else you might need to enjoy time outdoors in this season. In the event of severe weather, programs may have to be cancelled and refunds offered.