Dionte Berry
Staff Writer
[email protected]

Spreading over both Tennessee and Kentucky, Land Between the Lakes is home to many plants, animals and fungi, and a new BioBlitz program is providing people the opportunity to explore LBL’s biodiversity.

Murray State’s Watershed Studies Institute is partnering with the Friends of LBL to host a fall BioBlitz. This serves as a great way for folks to get out of the house and into nature, and provides an  opportunity to safely learn about different animals and plants.

The BioBlitz uses the iNaturalist app, which lets people set up scientific projects. For BioBlitzing it allows users to upload and identify their finds while keeping track of observations and species identified.

Though it started as a class activity, Murray State biological sciences professor and Watershed Institute director Howard Whiteman saw how he could expand the BioBlitz to the community.

“I used iNaturalist in my class in the beginning of the semester as an exercise in biodiversity to see how much biodiversity is in Murray,” Whiteman said. “It worked so well that I thought it was a no-brainer to expand it to LBL and do it and right now in particular.”

Whiteman believes that the BioBlitz is a useful and fun activity people can do in nature while easily being 6 feet from one another. The activity only requires a trip to LBL and a device to take and upload pictures.

“With COVID-19 having everyone stuck indoors it’s a great way for them to get outside to do something new, and they’re able to do so with what they are most comfortable using right now: their smartphones,” Whiteman said.

Beyond helping people get outdoors, the BioBlitz serves as a hands-on opportunity to get people more familiar with the sciences.

“Today, a part of our country is not following scientific guidelines and having trouble understanding the difference between science and not science,” Whiteman said. “I think exposure to being citizen scientists and participating in scientific research makes science more understandable and less elitist.”

Whiteman said the more people understand science, the less they are scared of it and more likely to listen to it. Between COVID-19 and climate change, Whiteman said it is important that people listen to scientists who are giving warnings about these problems.

Another important aspect of the BioBlitz is that it acts as a citizen science project that’s gathering important research. A citizen science project is a project with so much data that multiple researchers are required to collect it all.

With the public’s help, analyzing LBL’s biodiversity will be much easier, which is something that Friends of LBL worker and naturalist Monica West is looking forward to.

As a naturalist, West cares for animals and teaches guests about many of the different organisms that call LBL home.

“The BioBlitz is a great way for us to get a picture of what life there is here during the fall for us and for those at Murray State,” West said. “Identifying and teaching people about what lives in LBL is my job and there’s no way I know everything, so the BioBlitz has been great.”

West also has the goal of helping Murray State students with their studies by giving them a clear picture of the biodiversity LBL has to offer.

“If someone wants to study elephants they won’t come to LBL,” West said. “I’m sorry we don’t have any, but if they want to study Loblolly Pine then LBL would be a great place for them.”

If students want to do a research project over a specific animal or plant, the BioBlitz will give them a clear picture of what is in their area.

The LBL Bioblitz lasts until Nov. 15 and can be found by searching “Land Between the Lakes (LBL) BioBlitz” in the project search bar on the iNaturalist app or www.inaturalist.org.

“You don’t need any prior experience for the BioBlitz and it’s great for beginners and all ages,” West said. “By going out, taking pictures and uploading them you’re helping science.”