Lake Merritt in the heart of Oakland is the jewel of the city and teeming with life. The perfect place to participate in this year’s City Nature Challenge! Join a collaboration of Oakland’s nature and education oriented groups on April 30th to explore and document biodiversity in the city!

The City Nature Challenge has the goal of documenting as much biodiversity in an area as possible. During this event come learn about the thousands of organisms that call this place home and help document them as part of the City Nature Challenge. Local naturalists will be on hand to help you find and identify organisms. Bring your smart phone pre-loaded with the iNaturalist app, food for lunch, and any tools that you think will help you find organisms. There will be stations around the lake focusing on different habitats, organisms and some short guided walks with experts.

You can drop in at any point of the BioBlitz and find a marked area leader to learn from.
To join the the Lake Merritt BioBlitz 2023 project on iNaturalist go HERE and sign up. Don’t forget to turn on the final “yes I want to join” toggle at the end of signup. Help will be provided at kick-off and at tables at lake stations throughout the event.

Schedule of Events:
10:00am Kick Off at the Rotary Nature Center – learn how to use iNat and Lake Merritt History
10:30 -12:30 – Stations with guides will help you explore different environments and organisms
1. Boat Docks – Dock fouling organisms
2. Lake Merritt Gardens – Insects
3. East Side of the Lake – Plants and insects
4. Lake Chalet – Mud station
1:00 – 2:00 pm Wrap up and ID session at OMCA’s California Room

El ¨City Nature Challenge¨
El ¨City Nature Challenge ¨tiene el objetivo de documentar la mayor cantidad posible de bio-diversidad en un área. Venga y aprenda sobre los miles de organismos que viven en esta zona y ayude a documentarlas durante el evento. Naturalistas locales estarán disponibles para ayudarle a encontrar e identificar los organismos. Traiga su teléfono inteligente con la aplicación iNaturalist descargada, su almuerzo y cualquier herramienta que usted crea que le puede ser útil para encontrar organismos vivos. Habrá estaciones alrededor del lago enfocadas en distintos hábitats, organismos y caminatas breves guiadas con expertos en el tema.
Usted podrá llegar a cualquier punto del ¨BioBlitz¨ y hablar con un líder identificado que podrá ayudarle.
Para unirse al proyecto ¨Lake Merritt BioBlitz 2023¨ en iNaturalist pulse AQUÍ y regístrese. No olvide activar el botón de “yes I want to join” al final de la registración. Habrá asistencia desde el inicio del evento en las mesas de las distintas estaciones alrededor del lago.

Itinerario de los Eventos:
10:00 am – Inicio en el Rotary Nature Center (600 Bellevue Ave, Oakland) – aprenda cómo usar iNat y Historia de Lake Merritt
10:30 -12:30 – Los guías de las estaciones le ayudarán a explorar los diversos ambientes y organismos
Estaciones
1. Muelles – Organismos del muelle de abordaje
2. Jardines de Lake Merritt Gardens – Insectos
3. Lado Este del Lago – Plantas e insectos
4. Lake Chalet restaurante – Estación de lodo
1:00 – 2:00 pm Cierre y sesión de identificación en el California Room del Oakland Museum of California (1000 Oak St, Oakland)

SPONSORS OF THIS EVENT:
Oakland Museum of California (OMCA)
California Center for Natural History (CCNH)
Community for Lake Merritt
Insect Sciences Museum (a.k.a. Bug People)
Rotary Nature Center Friends (RNCF)
Wholly H20
California Academy of Sciences
iNaturalist
The Rotary Nature Center in Lakeside Park