UNRC Is First Integrative Biodiversity Research Group to Analyze Diverse Animal Groups in Urban L.A.

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1 MEDIA CONTACTS: Kristin Friedrich, NHM (213) Rachel Bauch (323) NEW URBAN NATURE RESEARCH CENTER LAUNCHED BY NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY CONDUCTS SUPERPROJECT, LARGEST URBAN BIODIVERSITY STUDY IN THE WORLD UNRC Is First Integrative Biodiversity Research Group to Analyze Diverse Animal Groups in Urban L.A. Over 43 Species of Flies New to Science Discovered, With Four New State Records and 16 New County Records of Reptiles and Amphibians, Three State Records and Seven County Records of Snails and Slugs, and Five Papers Authored or Co-Authored by Citizen Scientists

2 LOS ANGELES, CA, April 12, 2016 On April 14, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) will launch the first integrative research center in the United States dedicated to urban biodiversity using Los Angeles to extend scientific research and investigation beyond the perimeters of the Museum s 3.5 acres of Nature Gardens habitat. With the establishment of the new Urban Nature Research Center (UNRC), NHM is undertaking the SuperProject, the world s largest urban biodiversity inventory. The UNRC s cross species analysis will allow researchers to contextualize their work and provide a bigger picture for the study of biodiversity a model, the museum feels, will be a model for environmental and urban nature studies. As museum staff from all over the world visit NHM to study our exhibitions indoor and outdoor they may soon be incorporating the Urban Nature Research Center s innovative scientific approach for research, data collection and analysis, and science communication, said NHM President and Director, Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga. "Through this one-of-a-kind research initiative, I look forward to seeing the growth of the UNRC, to learning more about L.A. s rich biodiversity, and to seeing UNRC break new ground for the kinds of urban nature research that can be done in other biodiversity hotspots around the globe Spearheaded by a dynamic team of Natural History Museum scientists, UNRC will formally unify the museum s L.A.-based nature collections with on-site strategies for data gathering. It will employ novel approaches for working in urban areas such as community outreach initiatives, tested citizen science projects, and social media platforms. It is also administering the SuperProject, the largest urban biodiversity study in the world. NHM, in the last several years, has shifted its attention to include not just natural and cultural history, but living nature and specifically, the nature of L.A. With the 2013 addition of the outdoor Nature Gardens and their companion indoor exhibit, the Nature Lab, the museum has onsite venues that engage Angelenos in an investigation of the nature around them. The gardens and the public lab, as well as the growing slate of tours, citizen science projects, and education programs those spaces have activated, are entry points for visitors to not only learn about, but participate in, the ongoing discoveries NHM scientists are making about local wildlife. We began to envision the museum as a hub for the investigation of urban nature, shaped not only by scientists and experts, but by user, visitor and educator interests, Bettison-Varga said. It s a new approach to science: using the expansive and diverse Los Angeles landscape as a field site to look at things in a less compartmentalized way, and conducting research in the urban matrix with the help of the public. UNRC will bring together scientists, educators, and communicators, across several museum departments and the Southern California community to observe, document and analyze a vast array of species in field

3 sites across the region, including their own backyards and the museum s newly transformed indooroutdoor campus. This collaborative study of insects, spiders, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, snails and slugs will reveal new insights into L.A. s natural landscape and the ways in which cities worldwide can support biodiversity in urban areas. (UNRC and citizen science information available at nhm.org/nature). There s often a misconception that Los Angeles is a concrete jungle, when in reality the city is home to one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, said Dr. Brian Brown, NHM Curator of Entomology and UNRC Co-Director. At NHM, we re committed to learning more about the extraordinary plants and animals around us, and to making L.A. a better place for wildlife and, by extension, humans to thrive. The museum s UNRC is an exciting step in achieving that goal, and we look forward to continuing to engage our community to help us understand and care for our environment. Urban Nature Research Center Components With the establishment of the new center, NHM is undertaking the SuperProject, the world s largest urban biodiversity inventory. The SuperProject collects data across multiple species at over 200 super sites backyards and schoolyards from coastal to inland environments. Hundreds of citizen scientists have been trained to collect data, and submit it to NHM scientists via inaturalist, a free citizen science app for reporting personal observations of any plant or animal species (inaturalist.org). Encompassed by the SuperProject are: BioSCAN (Biodiversity Science: City and Nature), a large-scale insect survey of backyard insect diversity, which has already discovered 43 species new to science and several improbable new species distributions. L.A. Spider Survey, a citizen science project that, through over 1,000 participants, has given us a detailed and profound glimpse into how our spider fauna has changed over the last 100 years, and continues to change today. RASCals (Reptiles and Amphibians in Southern California), designed to improve knowledge of native and non-native reptiles and amphibians in Southern California, home to both 22.5 million people and dramatic urbanization and habitat modification. Results so far include four new state records and 16 new county records, as well as five papers authored or co-authored by citizen scientists. SLIME (Snails and Slugs Living in Metropolitan Environments), a recently-launched citizen science project with over 320 contributors so far, aiming to catalogue the biodiversity of terrestrial gastropods (land snails and slugs). NHM s collection of land snails includes thousands of specimens from locations throughout the Los Angeles Basin and spans the last 100 years. But not much is

4 known about this mollusk biodiversity today. Results include three new state record and seven new county records. Southern California Squirrel Survey, a citizen science-based research program that catalogs the occurrence of squirrels. Although squirrels are well-known, they are often overlooked. Not many people realize that Eastern Fox Squirrels are not native to California, or that the native Western Gray Squirrel is in decline. This project s aim is to learn more about the distribution and behavior of these species, as well as the many other understudied species in our regions. The biggest challenge to studying urban biodiversity is that much of the available habitat exists in backyards and other areas inaccessible to scientists for research. We are excited to partner with volunteers across the region to establish citizen science as one of today s foremost scientific research methods, stated Dr. Greg Pauly, Associate Curator of Herpetology at NHM and UNRC Co-Director. How else could scientists get vast amounts of data where there is lots of private property that we can t easily survey? With public contributions, we ve made exciting scientific discoveries from people s backyards. Some of these findings have already been of tremendous interest to public agencies and conservation NGOs, including the California Department of Food, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and The Nature Conservancy. With the SuperProject, the museum can share important contributions with the city and county to help shape ecological resilience in places like public parks, as well as habitat restoration projects in coastal wetlands and the L.A. River. We are thrilled to support the groundbreaking research that our scientists are undertaking across departments, added Dr. Luis Chiappe, Vice President, Research and Collections at NHM. Through utilizing historical data from NHM s vast collections and the data gathered in projects like the SuperProject, UNRC will have an unparalleled opportunity to become a major think tank for urban issues relating to climate change, pollution, urban habitats, and ecological resource management. City Nature at NHM NHM has also created the first Northern and Southern California City Nature Challenge: L.A. vs S.F., an event organized by NHM and San Francisco s California Academy of Sciences that invites participants to observe wildlife and submit it to inaturalist. The City Nature Challenge will kick off April 16, which is National Citizen Science Day, and culminates with an online announcement of results on Earth Day, April 22. Click here to view Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti s City Nature Challenge call to action. Citizen science at NHM isn t new. We ve been engaging the public in research since 1994 when our California Parrot Project launched. But today we have technology like smart phones and social media that can widen the reach, increase submissions, and vastly increase the impact of the public s participation, said Lila Higgins, NHM Manager of Citizen Science. These citizen science observations will allow museum

5 scientists to compare modern-day records to historical records from the museum s collections to understand how the biodiversity in our region has changed through time and how it continues to change. The current landscape of urban biodiversity is poorly understood. With human populations worldwide increasingly concentrated in cities, urban biodiversity is quickly becoming a central part of the future of plants and wildlife on Earth. What better place to study urban biodiversity than in Los Angeles, which exists inside one of the Earth s 35 Biodiversity Hotspot, a Conservation International designation for an area with both diverse plants and animals under extreme threat. To gather more comprehensive data about L.A. s urban habitat, the NHM has transformed into a leading hub for the exploration of city nature, partnering with local science aficionados and novices alike to collect specimens onsite in the Nature Gardens and Nature Lab as well as in schoolyards, backyards and parks to help answer real-world questions about the Los Angeles environment. The museum has also solicited local audiences to submit their discoveries via social media and the L.A. Nature Map, an online database and Nature Lab exhibit comprised of over 44,000 submissions, which is updated daily and increasingly being used at home, in classrooms and by other institutions to explore and record wildlife around Los Angeles. The L.A. Nature Map is accessible through nhm.org/nature, a digital hub for UNRC discoveries, events, and video content. Part of that video content is also launching today is The Curiosity Show, a webcast video series hosted by Dr. Chris Thacker, Fish Curator at NHM. It features accessible and often humorous perspectives from NHM scientists about their ongoing and expanding research. Some of these episodes will investigate a broader environmental topic or species, followed by a closer look at its relevance to the biodiversity of L.A., the specific projects being conducted at the NHM, and how visitors can get involved. The three debut episodes find Chris exploring latest findings on L.A. snails, slugs; lizards; and insects. The museum is also working on a new book, L.A. City Nature Guide (working title), a comprehensive resource on how to identify and interpret elements of the L.A. environment from San Bernardino County to the Pacific Ocean, which is slated for release in Recent discoveries and urban nature research initiatives are also posted weekly in the museum s Nature in L.A. blog (nhm.org/nature). ### City Nature Challenge Details: April 14, 2016 April 21, 2016 Los Angeles County proper vs. San Francisco Bay Area (9 counties that touch SF Bay)

6 L.A. County: 4,750 square miles, 10 million residents S.F. Bay Area: 7,000 square miles, 7.1 million residents Social Media: #CitSciDay #NatureinLA #NatureSFBay inaturalist page for Los Angeles County s part in City Nature Challenge About the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is located at 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. It is open daily 9:30 am to 5 pm. NHM was the first dedicated museum building in Los Angeles, opening its doors in It has amassed one of the world s most extensive and valuable collections of natural and cultural history with more than 35 million objects, some as old as 4.5 billion years. The Natural History Family of Museums includes the NHM, the La Brea Tar Pits Museum (Hancock Park/Mid-Wilshire), and the William S. Hart Park and Museum (Newhall, California). The Family of Museums serves more than one million families and visitors annually, and is a national leader in research, exhibitions and education. Visit nhm.org/nature