Your Nature Photos Do Serious Science
Smartphones have affected many aspects of life, both good and bad. A particularly beneficial aspect of the surge of mobile photography has been people capturing the world in new ways, especially when it comes to scientific study.
As reported by Gizmodo, smartphone apps like iNaturalist have proven a treasure trove of data for research scientists. New research published in BioScience this week shows that thanks to citizen scientists, increasingly equipped with great smartphone cameras, iNaturalist observations have played a growing and vital role in peer-reviewed research.
iNaturalist has over 200 million user-generated submissions, and the accompanying data is showing up in a lot of new scientific studies. After analyzing thousands of research articles from the past five years, the research team determined that iNaturalist data used for science has increased tenfold over that period.
“Beyond documenting where species occur, the photos uploaded to iNaturalist offer a rich source of biological information — capturing habitat, species coloration, behavior, and more,” the study’s lead author, Brittany Mason, told Gizmodo over email. “Researchers are increasingly using this imagery data as a valuable source of ecological and behavioral data.”
iNaturalist is a free, easy-to-use platform. Once users download the app, available on iOS and Android, they can begin recording their observations to share with fellow nature enthusiasts. The platform has a large, active community where people can talk about their findings with like-minded peers worldwide. iNaturalist has had a significant focus on citizen science since its inception in 2008, and helps people identify and study plants and animals anywhere on Earth.
iNaturalist’s big, passionate community is a significant part of its value for professional researchers, as every identification requires authentic human confirmation, not just some artificial intelligence tool.
Mason explains that iNaturalist is very easy to use, so even those without scientific training or background can participate in the conversation and make meaningful contributions. This type of accessibility enables a broader range of people to participate, resulting in more photos and richer information for professional scientists. While many users share photos they captured with their smartphone directly inside the iNaturalist app, people can upload any nature photos they capture, including with dedicated camera systems.
As Gizmodo notes and iNaturalist explains, iNaturalist users have done many incredible things. For example, Juan de Roux, a Colombian architect, designer, and professor, captured the first known photo of the Colombian weasel in 2011. He uploaded it to iNaturalist in 2018 after a friend told him about the platform. Juan was trying to learn more about local snails. He was so instantly enamored by iNaturalist that he thought it would be a good place to share his historic weasel photo, not realizing at the time that his photos were so special.
Other iNaturalist users are participating in active studies about invasive species, endangered animals and plants, environmental changes, and much more.
Science matters a lot, especially as Earth faces increasing threats to biodiversity and habitats. However, science is intensive and very expensive, especially when trying to study nature. Platforms like iNaturalist and tools like smartphones have turned regular people who love exploring nature into research assistants and transformed science. Photography is an increasingly powerful tool in the fight to protect the planet.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos. The referenced research, “iNaturalist accelerates biodiversity research,” was published this week in BioScience.
