Since it was established a little over two years ago, the San Diego County Plant Atlas Project on iNat has grown even faster than iNat as a whole in the same time frame. According to a recent blog post, the number of observations on iNat worldwide just about doubles each year. The number of observations in the SD County Plant Atlas Project on iNat didn't just double in the past year, it almost tripled from about 50,000 total observations a year ago to over 140,000 observations by mid-December 2018. The number of observers who contributed observations to the project increased from about 2,000 a year ago to over 5,000 at this time. A year ago, the top 10 observers had contributed about 50% of the observations in the project. Now, the top 10 observers have contributed about 42% of the observations. More than 500 people have contributed at least 30 observations to the project.

The project has grown in ways that will impact scientific endeavors. Dr. Jon Rebman, curator of botany at the San Diego Natural History Museum, has verified almost 85,000 observations in the project. The number of members who have joined the project increased from 166 a year ago to 327 currently. Members of the project can change their account settings to allow curators to view obscured coordinates. Verified observations with unobscured coordinates foster one of the project's goals which is to integrate iNat plant observations with the Museum's scientific specimen data to improve overall knowledge of the flora of San Diego County.

As we welcome the New Year, here are some ideas for making 2019 even better than 2018 on iNat:

1. If you haven't already done so, join the San Diego Plant Atlas Project on iNat and change your settings to allow curators to see obscured coordinates.
2. Be sure to review the photo guidelines so your observations can be identified.
3. Use the resources available at the Nat's plant atlas website to learn about plants of San Diego County.

Thank you for all of your efforts on behalf of the San Diego County Plant Atlas Project on iNat!