The Omaha STEM Ecosystem is a partner of this year’s City Nature Challenge. April 30-May 3, 2021, the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium is promoting citizen science by asking people to identify and count plants and animals that live among us. This is an opportunity to get to know the plants, animals and fungi that are in our backyards, parks and neighborhoods to better understand how our lives affect the ecology around us.

The City Nature Challenge is an annual, global, community science competition to document urban biodiversity. The challenge is a BioBlitz that engages residents and visitors to find and document plants, animals, and other organisms living in urban areas. This year, there will be a school challenge and corporate challenge. The school challenge encourages teachers to use this event as a tool for their curriculum. The corporate challenge invites friendly competition in the workplace. 

Last year more than 240 cities from all over the world counted species over the four-day event. Visit https://www.omahazoo.com/citynaturechallenge for more information on how to get involved with City Nature Challenge.