BE ADVISED: On Thursday, October 17 our museums will participate in a brief earthquake drill. Guests will hear an overhead announcement, but are not required to participate, nor will the building be evacuated. Please plan your visit accordingly or contact us at info@nhm.org or 213.763.DINO if you have any questions or would like to reschedule your visit.

BE ADVISED: On Saturday 10/19, the museum will close at 2 PM in preparation for a large event, with some areas closed to the public starting at noon. Boney Island at NHM will be open to the public at 7PM. Please plan your visit accordingly. For more information or to reschedule your visit, email info@nhm.org or call 213.763.DINO.

Creating an iNaturalist Account

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Two kids hold up petri dishes. One kid uses a cell phone to take a photograph of an insect inside of the petri dish.
Youth at Transfiguration Church used their new nature exploration tools to take photos of the insects they found. Photo Credit: Jordi Ruiz Maso

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 2-12

Overview

In this guide you will learn how to set up an iNaturalist account.

Duration

5-10 minutes to set up

Materials

  • Computer or smart phone
  • Connection to the internet
  • Email address

Activity

  1. Go to www.inaturalist.org
  2. Click on the "Sign Up" button

  3. Choose one of two options for joining: 

    Option 1: Create a username and password specific to iNaturalist. We recommend this for teachers, unless your classroom or school has a social media account. This prevents personal information from being connected to a project that students and parents will see. To choose this option, fill in the fields and click the "Sign Up" button.
    Option 2: Link an existing account to iNaturalist. If you have one, you can use one of the following accounts to sign into iNaturalist: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Google, Yahoo, or SoundCloud. To choose this option, click on the type of account you want to use for iNaturalist. Follow the prompts to sign into that account and/or give permission for iNaturalist to access it. Hint: To see what information iNaturalist will access, click on the grey circle with an "i". 

  4. Welcome, you are signed up! When an account has successfully been created (or linked), a welcome message indicating you have successfully signed up will appear at the top of the page in a yellow bar. Start uploading your observations! After signing up, you will be directed to your "Dashboard". This is your home base for your account. If you need more guidance, there's a "Getting Started Guide" on the right-hand side of your Dashboard. Have fun!

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