iNaturalist: How One App Is Engaging the Public in Citizen Science and Conservation

Paul L. Errington Memorial Lecture

Scott Loarie is the executive director of iNaturalist, a nonprofit that connects people with nature to drive global conservation. In 2024, Scott received the prestigious Heinz Award for the Environment. Scott’s love for nature began during his childhood on the Russian River in rural Northern California, where exploring the outdoors sparked a lifelong fascination with biodiversity. That passion led him to earn degrees in biology from Stanford and a PhD in environmental science from Duke. As a researcher at Carnegie Science and a lecturer at UC Berkeley, Scott studied how climate change is reshaping ecosystems worldwide, from banding birds in Central America to tracking elephants with GPS collars in Africa. In 2011, Scott’s growing fascination with the power of technology to scale and decentralize solutions inspired him to leave academia and build iNaturalist — a platform that not only inspires curiosity and discovery but also fuels scientific breakthroughs and conservation action.

This lecture recording can be found on the Available Recordings page approximately two business days after the event and will remain accessible for three weeks.