Earth Month: City Nature Challenge x USC

Document wildlife in LA County with the USC Community from April 28-May 1
April 28, 2023

Started in 2016 as a competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the City Nature Challenge (CNC) has grown into an international event, motivating people around the world to find and document wildlife in their own cities. Run by the Community Science teams at the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM), the CNC is an annual four-day global bioblitz at the end of April, where cities are in a collaboration-meets-friendly-competition to see what can be accomplished when we all work toward a common goal.

At USC, the Environmental Studies Program is organizing a project to encourage USC students, staff, and faculty to participate in the City Nature Challenge.

How to Participate 

  1. Download the iNaturalist app and create a profile.
  2. Join the CNC X USC 2023 project (in projects, search ‘City Nature Challenge X USC 2023’).
  3. Observe from April 28-May 1, 2023! Observations made in LA County by project members during this time are automatically added to our project.
  4. Be sure to mark any cultivated (planted) plants or captive animals.

Remember…be safe!

  1. Be aware of your surroundings.
  2. Lift rocks towards you when looking for wildlife underneath.
  3. Be gentle and safe with the wildlife you observe.

How-to Guides

Learn More