HR4RS stamp
Nora Fernandez Fernandez
Next Thursday, April 20, the GID-MAsBio teaching innovation group with the Green Office organize the I Bioblitz of the Rey Juan Carlos University. The activity will take place on the Móstoles campus, from 10:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m., and the space to be explored will be between the Lecture Room I and Laboratorio I buildings.
A bioblitz is a 'biodiversity marathon', an activity that aims to record as many species as possible in one place and during a given time. As Consuelo Iriarte, head of the URJC Green Office, explains, “this covers all kinds of species, be they plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects… everything. The purpose of the activity is to publicize the existing biodiversity in the green infrastructures of Móstoles and thereby promote the importance of its presence, in the biological cycles and in the balance of this ecosystem”.
The dynamics of the activity is that the participants take photos of the species, register it with its location in the iNaturalist application with the support of the experts from the URJC teaching staff, who will be at their disposal to help them. To participate, it will be necessary for the contestants to have the application installed on their smartphone and have created an account with which to register at the URJC Biodiversity Observatory. These steps can be easily done by following these instructions.
The event is free and open to any type of public. As Iriarte points out, “participants can present themselves individually or in a group. Groups of between 2 and 5 people will be made. There will be prizes for the couple or team that identifies the most species, which will be delivered along with the diplomas on the 20th at 16:00 p.m.
From Oficina Verde, integrated into the GID-MAsBio teaching innovation group, "we encourage everyone to participate in this initiative, which is designed to be dynamic and entertaining and encourage teamwork."
In addition, Consuelo Iriarte wanted to highlight "the importance of this initiative in line with the work and promotion of biodiversity, which both the Green Office and the URJC itself consider very important."
This activity is sponsored by the Iberian Society of Mycologists and the URJC Higher School of Experimental Sciences and Technology (ESCET). Registration to participate can be done from the following link: I Biobliotz URJC