Notice
This tool is a resource intended for a global audience.
Both the website and app function differently. The bottom of this page directs you to a resource on how to use the tool.
About iNaturalist
iNaturalist is a US-based, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The tool is largely considered to be a social network-based resource that uses technology to “share biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature.”
The platform aims to connect people to nature, advancing biodiversity science and conservation. Everyone can be an observer, and anyone can be an identifier. There are also plenty of guides and community posts helping those with less experience become better and more discerning with their identifications and observations.
The tool helps create research-quality observations which has enabled scientists to better work in biodiversity and conservation sciences; it has also allowed citizens to get engaged in nature and create their own projects, and discover new species. (1)
The History of iNaturalist
iNaturalist has a fascinating history that seems to showcase the kind of accessibility to information that it strives to provide. Originally, the idea was conceived by a student in 2005 named Ken-ichi Ueda. In 2008, Ken-ichi and fellow students Nate Agrin and Jessica Kline collaborated to create a final Masters’ project with the idea for UC Berkeley’s School of Information. (3) This first iteration of iNat was a success, and Ken-ichi began collaborating with Scott Loarie, who is a Duke University and Stanford graduate and current executive director of iNaturalist.
In 2011, iNaturalist was formally organized into an LLC, and the pair began growing the community and platform, which included creating the mobile app.
The iNat app and website quickly caught the attention of larger institutions, and in 2014 it became an initiative of the California Academy of Sciences, and later, a joint initiative of National Geographic Society in 2017. In 2023, iNaturalist transitioned from an LLC into a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
Since then, the platform’s team has continued to grow and work towards the original Masters project goals of allowing people to connect with nature while using technology to fuel biodiversity and conservation sciences.
Related Resource on HerbSpeak
If you want to learn how to use the iNaturalist app on both desktop and in the app, there is another HerbSpeak guide that goes in-depth here:
How to Use iNaturalist
We hear the stories about how naturalists used to spend their time discovering new species by foraging in dense jungles and sailing the seas looking under crude microscopes like they did in the time of Charles Darwin. Technology evolves, and today, there are a lot...
References
References
- Mesaglio T, Sauquet H, Cornwell WK. Citizen science records are fuelling exciting discoveries of new plant species. Am J Bot. 2025 Jun;112(6):e70048. doi: 10.1002/ajb2.70048. Epub 2025 May 15. PMID: 40375312; PMCID: PMC12186130.3. UC Berkeley School of Information, iNaturalist.org, https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/projects/2008/inaturalistorg
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