GTM Research Reserve: Introducing the Nature Nut’s Tech Corner

Illustration by Jean Bitting, 2012

Do you feel like your inner nature nut and techie geeks are at odds with each other? Are you looking for a fresh new way to explore nature? Are you a technophobe looking for a way to start plugging in? Perhaps you wish you had a way to inspire today’s technologically bound youth to re-connect with the natural world surrounding them? Whatever your current relationship with the ever-changing world of technology might be, our new Nature Nut’s Tech Corner is the perfect resource to help you get your geek on with nature! Visit us on the last Friday of each month, right here, as we spotlight a new field tested application.

Project Noah

We are kicking off our Nature Nut’s Tech Corner with Project Noah, which defines itself as a tool to explore and document wildlife. Project Noah acts as a platform to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere. Named after an award-winning software program, Project Noah allows you to sign up using one of many popular internet homepages and social networking platforms like Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Twitter and more. Though originally designed to build a “digital butterfly net”, Project Noah now uses the popularity of mobile technologies to collect ecological data on all types of organisms, helping to preserve global biodiversity.

Project Noah has quickly become one of the most popular communities for nature exploration and documentation. Users can access the Project Noah website and mobile app to post photos of their finds, to ask community help in identifying specimens, and can even use the Map feature to check out what other users have spotted near them.

The Mission Page on
Project Noah for Android

Another exciting feature of Project Noah is the “Missions” feature. Users can contribute to and create missions- some of which involve serious scientific studies. The mission search allows you to search both globally and locally to get involved. A local search of St. Augustine reveals a mission centered around our own GTM Research Reserve. The GTM NERR Plant Hunt mission challenges local users to document as many plants as they can find within the reserve’s boundaries. Project Noah missions in Florida range from contributing to Invasive Plant studies to photographing Florida Orchids and other plant and wildlife species.

To unleash your Citizen Scientist download the Project Noah App for your iPhone or Android, get outside, and start exploring today!