Community scientists making biodiversity discoveries in urban Los Angeles

There is no magic line where nature stops and city begins. Amazing biodiversity discoveries can be made anywhere, as long as we choose to be present and observe. As a museum curator in one of the Earth’s largest mega-cities, I wondered how to study modern biodiversity in a landscape dominated by private property. Eventually I realized that the local human population was the solution and not the problem. By crowdsourcing data collection, we are generating unique datasets on organismal behavior and revolutionizing the detection of invasive species. Simultaneously, we are providing novel ways for Angelenos to participate in science.