Ecology of Cobbs Creek

Students from Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges have made a Nature Field Guide for anyone (kids included!) who would like to explore the ecology of the Cobbs Creek watershed. This is also a great resource for lower school and middle school field trips. For best field guide viewing and to save paper, you can print the field guide two pages to a sheet and double-sided!

Ecology Info Map with iNaturalist

With our current lifestyle growing more and more confined to the indoor space, it is easy to forget the natural environment around us. Ask yourself, when is the last time you went outdoors and really paid attention to the variety of nature around you? Provided it is safe to do so, we invite you to participate in this community iNaturalist project that allows you to contribute to mapping the life around Cobbs Creek.

Though it may not always be obvious, urban and suburban environments are home to many beautiful and diverse ecosystems in dire need of protection and attention, as much as any “natural” wilderness. Climate change and environmental destruction happening around us can be a deeply painful source of grief and hopelessness. However, none of us need to be heroes or powerful politicians in order to contribute to a more just and flourishing future. While ecological destruction absolutely has powerful structural and systemic causes, the process of healing our relationship with the land can absolutely begin in our literal backyards. Many researchers are beginning to take serious notice of the fascinating and unique ecosystems that thrive in human urban spaces, both for their intrinsic beauty and wonder as well as sources of potential solutions for how to live with each other on our shared planet. Documenting these ecosystems is the first step, and iNaturalist allows anyone with a camera to contribute to global biodiversity efforts.

To contribute to the project, you need to have an iNaturalist account, add the project to your account, then you can just take pictures of your observation around the creek and it’ll be automatically added to the project!

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/cobbs-creek-observations

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