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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> Leslie, Elaine [mailto:<a href="mailto:elaine_leslie@nps.gov">elaine_leslie@nps.gov</a>] <br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, November 04, 2015 10:11 AM<br><b>Subject:</b> NPS Centennial Event and Opportunity Next May</span></p><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">Dear Colleagues</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">I hope this note finds you well. As way of a short background-some of us have been working on pollinator conservation efforts and some on citizen science-many opportunities for collaboration!</span></p><p><span style="font-size:9.5pt">I want to let you know about an exciting event that will be taking place May 20-21, 2016. To celebrate the Centennial of the National Park Service and the biodiversity of this nation, we will be hosting the first ever National BioBlitz in parks across the country-hopefully all 408 of them! This BioBlitz quest will be to discover living organisms through public involvement; during these rapid biological surveys-we are looking forward to scientists and volunteers of all ages and backgrounds to work together to compile an inventory of biological resources. The National BioBlitz will consist of:</span></p><ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">A major BioBlitz, co-hosted by NPS and the National Geographic Society, at NPS sites in and around Washington, D.C., with an accompanying Biodiversity Festival on the National Mall at Constitution Gardens (thousands of school children and American public are expected to participate);</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">Large simultaneous BioBlitzes occurring in identified host parks in different regions of our country—the “Regional Showcase BioBlitzes;”</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">Hundreds of concurrent BioBlitzes of different sizes and scopes taking place in national park sites, or refuges or other lands and waters across the United States.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-size:9.5pt">This two-day event will center around a 24-hour inventory period, in which teams of scientists, teachers, children, and other community members will work together on a series of different inventories to identify as many species as possible. One primary data collection tool for all BioBlitzes will be a digital application hosted by the California Academy of Sciences called “iNaturalist” <a href="http://www.inaturalist.org/" target="_blank">http://www.inaturalist.org</a> and information from all events across the country will be rolled up and broadcast on the National Mall. We will also be working with our inventory and monitoring networks across the country to ensure that quality data is collected, archived and then obviously, utilized. At the end of the National BioBlitz, we hope to have documented thousands of species in different taxonomic groups and engaged tens of thousands of public participants in our national parks. Other large components of these efforts are education and outreach.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:9.5pt">In past events, we have documented new species to parks and even new species to science, all the while creating a new generation of stewards of our nation's natural heritage and cadre of citizen scientists.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:9.5pt">I would like to invite you to become involved and join in this national effort! We will need hundreds of scientists (in DC or elsewhere across the country) who will lend their time and knowledge in leading public inventories (in their areas of expertise), conduct an educational walk or hike or session, or your organization may consider hosting a booth with hands-on learning activities at the Biodiversity Festival.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:9.5pt">If you are interested in participating, or if you would like additional information, please contact: Sally Plumb, NPS Biodiversity Coordinator, at 970 267-2180, <a href="mailto:sally_plumb@nps.gov" target="_blank">sally_plumb@nps.gov</a> or myself. Please help us reach your colleagues by spreading the word far and wide. This could be an opportunity to increase citizen science stewardship and engagement throughout the country and develop models, tools, and metrics for use in many applications. We are open to ideas and collaborations! </span></p><p><span style="font-size:9.5pt">Thank you very much and we look forward to hearing from you soon.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:9.5pt">Have a great day!</span></p><p><span style="font-size:9.5pt">Elaine</span></p></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Elaine F. Leslie</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Chief, Biological Resources</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Natural Resource Stewardship and Science</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">National Park Service</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">970 267-2135</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="96" height="72" id="_x0000_i1025" src="http://www.nps.gov/subjects/centennial/images/NPS-Centennial-E-Mail-Signature-with-Goal-11-24-14.jpg"></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>