The Upland Tropical Rain Forest exhibit is temporarily closed through Fall 2022.
City Nature Challenge: Baltimore
Thanks to the contributions and observations of local community scientists, City Nature Challenge 2022 was one of Baltimore's best! Collectively, 709 participants made 7,890 observations and identified 1,393 different species living in and around Baltimore, including 735 species of plants, 277 species of insects and 139 species of birds.
City Nature Challenge will return spring 2023—sign up for our newsletter to receive reminders as the date approaches!
Get Nerdy with Nature
City Nature Challenge is an annual community science competition for cities across the globe to find and document the plants and wildlife found in urban areas. As regional coordinator for the challenge, the National Aquarium encourages community scientists to explore, identify and document urban wildlife in the Baltimore metropolitan area.
Participants will use the free iNaturalist app to record the species they find during the challenge. All observations made in the following counties and uploaded to iNaturalist during the challenge will automatically be counted towards Baltimore's City Nature Challenge totals: Baltimore City, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard and Queen Anne's Counties.
The National Aquarium is committed to protecting, enhancing and restoring natural resources for the benefit of all people and wildlife throughout the Baltimore region. Part of that commitment includes knowing which species of wildlife live nearby and the types of habitats they need to thrive.
Ready, Set, Upload
New to iNaturalist? Check out this video for instructions on making your first observation upload, or follow the steps below.
Step 1: Download the iNaturalist app.
Step 2: Find wildlife and photograph what you find.
Step 3: Share your observations by uploading your pictures to iNaturalist.
Exploring Baltimore's Biodiversity
Check out the wildlife people are seeing in and around Baltimore today!
- Anita C. Leight Estuary Center
- Arundel Rivers Federation
- Backyard Basecamp Inc.
- Baltimore City Office of Sustainability
- Baltimore City Recreation and Parks, Horticulture division
- Baltimore Green Space
- Baltimore Underground Science Space
- Birds of Urban Baltimore
- Blue Water Baltimore
- Boy Scouts Troop 540
- Civic Works
- Community Ecology Institute
- Eden Mill Nature Center
- Filbert Street Garden
- Friends of Garrett Park
- Friends of Stony Run
- Friends of Quiet Waters Park
- Gunpowder Valley Conservancy
- Howard County Conservancy
- Howard County Recreation & Parks
- Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake
- The Living Classrooms Foundation
- Maryland Department of the Environment
- Maryland Fishing and Hunting
- Maryland Master Naturalist Program, UMD Extension
- The Maryland Zoo
- Masonville Cove
- Natural History Society of Maryland
- The Nature Conservancy
- North Point State Park
- Oregon Ridge Nature Center
- Outdoor Afro DC, MD, VA
- Patapsco Valley State Park
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
- UMBC ICARE
- The University of Baltimore
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Chesapeake Bay Field Office
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Masonville Cove Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership
- USDA Forest Service
- Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore
The City Nature Challenge is organized by:
If you have questions or if your organization is interested in partnering with us, please email conserve@aqua.org.
Get Involved Volunteer With Our Conservation Team!
Let's take this outside. Join the National Aquarium as we remove plastic pollution from habitats, plant wetland grasses and native gardens, document local wildlife and more.