By Elaine Baumgartel
Albuquerque, NM – In celebration of Earth Day, the Rio Grande Nature Center is hosting events on Saturday intended to get people out into nature. Participants in the BioBlitz event will participate in a one-day concentrated effort to do a biological inventory of the plants, insects, and animals in the Rio Grande Bosque in Albuquerque.
Adrian Oglesby is a freshwater protection specialist with the Nature Conservancy. He says the inventory will help scientists understand more about how the Bosque ecosystem is changing over time. And he says, the event is a great way to get people involved directly in science by becoming citizen scientists.
"It's great that folks spend a lot of time watching the Nature Channel and Discovery and all that," Ogelsby said. "But nothing compares to actually getting out and getting your hands dirty, hearing the birds and playing with the bugs. And we believe in the long run it makes for more active and engaged citizens."
Oglesby says the world has changed tremendously since the first Earth Day 40 years ago and the Bioblitz will be an opportunity to observe and record those changes.
Participants will get to collect insects, count butterflies, and watch birds. Events are free and begin at 7am tomorrow morning at the Rio Grande Nature Center in Albuquerque.
M
ore information online at NMnaturalhistory.org.
