News & Media
Using iNat for Research, Teaching, and Fun!
By Jessica Beckham, Professor of Instruction, Department of Biology, Health, and the Environment, UTSA
I have been an avid “iNatter” for the past decade!
On the recreational side, I have used the iNaturalist platform to help me identify species and as a sort of digital field notebook that keeps track of where I’ve been and what I’ve seen in the natural world. I have also used iNaturalist professionally in both my research and teaching.
As a researcher, I have worked on a number of projects pertaining to the conservation of Texas bumble bees. The iNaturalist dataset has been integral in helping me to map and predict current distributions of bumble bee species, as well as inform areas of sympatry for closely-related taxa. These data have even been included in a couple of publications (Beckham & Atkinson 2017 and Beckham, Johnson, & Pfau 2024), and I owe a debt of gratitude to all of the citizen scientists who have contributed bumble bee data to iNaturalist/
As an instructor, I have been using iNaturalist as a teaching tool. Many of you have helped my zoology students to identify their animal observations for their iNaturalist project (thank y’all!). In this project, my students learn to use iNaturalist and – over the course of the semester – collect 20 observations of animals. While they often complain about that number early in the semester, the exit surveys show me over and over again that they love this project. Many comment that they had never realized the diversity of animals around them in the city; in recent years, there have been more and more students sharing how great this project is for their mental health. So many young people spend most of their waking hours on screen and my students have told me they appreciate the “excuse” to get outside and go for a walk.
The yearly City Nature Challenge is one of my favorite events of the year (way better than the Super Bowl!), and I love the friendly competition that ensues with my friends, family, and coworkers. I will admit that my first couple of CNC competitions were spent as a DFW team member. However, since 2018, I have been a proud member of Team San Antonio! Looking forward to working with everyone to try and repeat our state title in April (and gloat to my DFW buddies)!
References
Beckham, J. L., & Atkinson, S. (2017). An updated understanding of Texas bumble bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) species presence and potential distributions in Texas, USA. PeerJ, 5, e3612.
Beckham, J. L., Johnson, J. A., & Pfau, R. S. (2024). Molecular data support Bombus sonorus and Bombus pensylvanicus (Hymenoptera, Apidae) as distinct species. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 97, 895-914.