Our Northern Ohio Team once again participated in the City Nature Challenge. The observation period was from April 24-27, 2026. Thank you to all the organizations that hosted events related to the challenge. Our team, which consisted of participants from the Cleveland, Akron, Canton, and Toledo regions, finished in 67th place with 1,645 species found, 8,980 observations made by 840 observers. Visit the 2026 results page to learn more.
What is City Nature Challenge?
Started in 2016 for the first-ever Citizen Science Day, the community science teams at NHM and California Academy of Sciences dreamed up the City Nature Challenge as a fun way to capitalize on their home cities’ friendly rivalry and hold an event around urban biodiversity. The first City Nature Challenge was an eight-day competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco, engaging residents and visitors in documenting nature to better understand urban biodiversity.
2026 marks the 10th year for City Nature Challenge. The event now encourages quality over quantity. Participants are encouraged to log any WILD plant, animal, or any evidence of life found in your city. (Wild means that it wasn’t put there, and is not being taken care of by people.) Take a picture or record a sound of what you find. Be sure to note the location of the critter or plant. And finally, share your observations through iNaturalist or your city's chosen platform.