You can make a difference by becoming a community scientist and discovering the colorful mushrooms in Wright Park. Mycologist, writer, and photographer Meg Madden will lead a BioBlitz - an exploration of the park, with the goal of cataloguing the diversity of fungi. All you have to do to help is drop by and snap photos with the iNaturalist app. Your work will help scientists and conservationists better understand the diversity of living things that call Middlebury home. 

There are three parts to this experience; feel free to attend any/all of them. All are free to the public. 

iNaturalist Training, October 12, 7PM –8PM, Virtual. iNaturalist is a powerful app that allows anybody with a smartphone to meaningfully contribute to the scientific community. Meg will guide you through the process of snapping high quality pictures that will help mycologists identify the fungi you discover. Register here. 

Fungi BioBlitz, October 15, 9AM-1PM, Wright Park from the Seymour St. Ext. Parking area. Drop by at any time and help discover the diversity of fungi in Wright Park. You can use the iNaturalist app to snap pictures of the creatures you discover, and those images can be used by scientists to better understand the mushrooms that grow in the park. No registration necessary.  

This event is a partnership of Meg Madden, Ilsley Public Library, and the Middlebury Area Land Trust. For more information, contact Renee Ursitti (Adult Services and Circulation Librarian at the Ilsley Public Library) at renee.ursitti@ilsleypubliclibrary.org.