If you’re an iNaturalist user (or want to become one!) and a native plant fanatic, KNPS would like to invite you to join the fourth annual Kentucky Botanists Big Year project!
A Botanists Big Year is a personal challenge or a friendly competition to observe and identify as many plant species as possible in a single year. The rules for the challenge are simple:
1) Observations must be of a plant – native or non-native, vascular or non-vascular, everything in Kingdom Plantae counts!
2) Observations must occur within the Commonwealth of Kentucky
3) Observations must be between January 1 – December 31, 2022
4) Observations must reach “Research Grade” status (this is when at least 2/3 of identifiers reach a consensus on a species ID)
To join the project, simply log in or sign up to iNaturalist, then visit the Kentucky Botanists Big Year project page and click “Join” in the top right corner.
The top five participants in the categories of Most Species, Most Observations, and Most Identifications will win KNPS swag, as well as the glory of victory! Naturalists and enthusiasts of any skill level are encouraged to join up: Big Year projects are a fantastic way to document and remember interesting plants you saw, learn how to identify them, and connect with other naturalists in the state. We hope to see you and your observations out there!