Sierra Club Sierra Talks
September 6 Amphibian & Reptile Atlas of Peninsular California: Citizen Science The goal of the Amphibian and Reptile Atlas is to combine both museum collection data and observations from citizen scientists to help better understand the biodiversity of our region. The Atlas is a bi-national effort covering southern California to the tip of Baja California and accessed through a user-friendly website: herpatlas.sdnhm.org. The Atlas contains information from the San Diego Natural History Museum’s herpetology database and over 40,000 citizen science observations and counting, thanks to their adoption of iNaturalist.org. Did you know that you can help scientists better understand the amphibians and reptiles (herps) of southern California? Come learn how to participate and what’s been learned so far from the person who launched the Atlas. The presenter, Bradford Hollingsworth, PhD, San Diego Natural History Museum Curator of Herpetology, has had a life-long interest in the diversity of amphibians and reptiles. His research focuses on the systematics and biogeography of amphibians and reptiles of the Southwest, including the Baja California peninsula and its associated islands. He is responsible for the care and maintenance of Museum’s 78,000 amphibian and reptile research specimens and regularly teaches as an adjunct professor at San Diego State University.