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First Annual Urban Wilderness Bioblitz: August 22, 2015- 10 am till 6 pm in Knoxville, TN

The City of Knoxville and Discover Life in America are serious about the importance of Biodiversity!

What is a Bioblitz?

A BioBlitz is a short (usually one-day), intense team effort to discover as many different life forms as possible in one location. Teams of volunteer scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to find and identify as many species of plants, animals, microbes, fungi, and other organisms as they can.

BioBlitzes are designed to increase the public's awareness of the variety of life in their immediate neighborhood and the services these various species provide to improve the quality of their lives. We usually hear the word "biodiversity" in regard to rainforests, with their vast number of species. Yet the diversity of life in our own backyards is phenomenal.

BioBlitzes also help to:

  • Engage students in community geography and citizen science
  • Identify species that should be monitored and controlled
  • Make recommendations towards public land management and conservation
  • Generate data
  • Highlight the positive impact of parks and open spaces on our lives
  • And celebrate diversity with DLIA!

Who can we thank for this great idea?

Discover Life in America (DLIA) has partnered with Legacy Parks, University of Tennessee, the City of Knoxville and the Aslan Foundation along with regional scientists to host a Bioblitz within Knoxville’s beautiful Urban Wilderness.

What Will We Do?

  • We'll be surveying all living things using nets and provided collection/preservation equipment.
  • No experience necessary!
  • The event is FREE, but we ask that participants be 10 years old or older.
  • We'll have experts on hand to train participants and identify species.
  • We will use the iNaturalist application to add our findings to those of BioBlitzes around the nation!

What Should I Bring?

  • Food and water for the day.
  • Dress for being outside and for whatever weather might arise.
  • If possible, download the iNaturalist app on your phone or smart device.
  • Sunscreen and Insect Repellent

Park Information:

Directions:

Take I–40 to US-129 S/Alcoa Hwy and take the Cherokee Trail/UT Medical Center exit. Stay right on Cherokee Trail and go approximately 3 miles. Park will be on the right immediately after the blue water tower. If we have enough participants, we may also get into the River Bluff Urban Wilderness area across Cherokee Trail road from High Ground Park.

Come join us for public bioblitz #3, taking place in East Tennessee on Saturday, August 22, 2015! Please click here to register via email, or call 865-430-4757. The event is free, but registration is required.

DLIA’s mission is to discover and understand America’s species through science and education for conservation. DLIA’s flagship project, the ATBI (All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory), is a joint effort with the National Park Service to identify and record every single species within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. To date, DLIA has been instrumental in adding an astonishing 8,095 new species to the park’s records, and an even more astonishing 951 species new to science.

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