3rd Annual BioBlitz at Purchase College
Purchase College will be hosting its third annual BioBlitz on September 11th and 12th. Last year we had 44 participants and we hope to get even more people involved this year!
What is a BioBlitz?
National Geographic defines it as “an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time.” We are focused on just 48 hours and want to document every living organism on campus! Having this data helps us understand the rich biodiversity of our campus.
How to participate? Work on your own anytime during the 48 hours!
We are planning on using iNaturalist again this year to document every species. This app allows every individual to log observations of anything they can take a photo of. Read more about how iNaturalist works and how to set up an account.
Contribute iNaturalist observations anywhere on campus anytime during this two day period and they will count toward the BioBlitz. This event is open to anyone and anything you observe is worth contributing! Just make sure you get a photo and upload it to iNaturalist.
How to participate? Attend an event!
Attend any of these expeditions to get more help and to learn from the experts!
Wed Sept 10 @ 5:30pm: Kick-off tabling event at DHall
Thursday Sept 11 @ 8:45am: Birding expedition with Dr. Schlesinger
Thursday Sept 11 @ 10:30am: Expedition to Alumni Woods with Dr. Ebbs
Thursday Sept 11 @ 11:30am: Lab work to find trematodes with Dr. Ebbs
Thursday Sept 11 @ 6:30pm: Nighthawk Watch with Dr. Schlesinger
Friday Sept 12 @ 8:45am Birding Expedition with Dr. Schlesinger
Friday Sept 12 @ 11am: Expedition to the Commons Experimental Forest with Dr. Jackson
Why participate?
Last year during our first BioBlitz in 2023, we logged 317 different species. In 2024, we logged 337 species and we hope to top that record this year! Our campus is full of biodiversity that we haven’t even discovered yet!
Stay in touch!
During the BioBlitz, you can check on the leaderboard and see what species we are finding at our Project Page.
Also be sure to follow @purchase_env and @purchasecollegebiology on instagram to get updates on events, meet-ups, and the leaderboard!