Welcome to the ID-a-thon for Oregon native plants! During November 9-17, we are asking you to add identifications to as many “Needs ID” plant observations posted in Observations Needs ID · iNaturalist  as possible, with a goal of reaching 20,000 identifications. The event will run from 12:00 AM Saturday, November 9 to 11:59 PM Sunday, November 17. You DON’T have to be an expert botanist to participate; in fact, we encourage everyone regardless of your level of botanical expertise to contribute.  

One of our goals for this event is to increase the number of people who are identifying Oregon plants on iNaturalist. Therefore, we are going to incorporate some mentoring. If you are new to identifying, and would like to contribute or improve your skills, we will pair you with an experienced identifier, who will help you get started, answer questions, and give feedback. Please sign up at the online event link  Flora of Oregon: Vascular Plants’s Journal · iNaturalist

What is an ID-a-thon? A crowdsourced event focusing on improving the level of identification accuracy of unconfirmed (non research-grade) observations posted on the iNaturalist Project  Flora of Oregon: Vascular Plants · iNaturalist

Why is it important? Over 300,000 plant species need your assistance!

The iNaturalist Project Flora of Oregon: Vascular Plants · iNaturalist was established in May 2023 and currently has 968,150 observations of 4844 plant species from across Oregon.   An amazing 63% are RESEARCH Grade, verified by several different individuals as accurate; however 37%, 353,856 observations, are in the NEEDS ID category, and that is where your participation comes in.

You will be contributing to conservation and biodiversity research data by increasing the accuracy of observations. 

You will learn more about the geographic distribution and flowering times of plant species that have captured your interest.

Further details of the ID-a-thon will be posted at Flora of Oregon: Vascular Plants’s Journal · iNaturalist, so watch this space during the event. 

You can also find a very helpful iNaturalist Tutorial video: How to Use the Identify Page at How to use the Identify Page : iNaturalist Help

Another helpful video is: NPSO workshop 2022: Becoming an iNaturalist IDENTIFIER ~ NO experience needed.  Why identifiers are important. https://media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/1_r2ci5et0