Martha’s Vineyard Atlas of Life: Community Science and Biodiversity

Join Martha's Vineyard Atlas of Life (MVAL) program director Matt Pelikan as he shares highlights of the newly-launched MVAL website, which will serve as an outlet for community members to share their sightings of flora and fauna, and learn more about the nature around them. 

Launched in 2021 by BiodiversityWorks and the Betsy and Jesse Fink Family Foundation, the Martha’s Vineyard Atlas of Life project seeks to enlist a broad community of nature enthusiasts to document the distinctive biodiversity of Martha’s Vineyard. Along with acting as a destination to record and index the extraordinary biodiversity of the island of Martha’s Vineyard, the website will also act as a centralized resource for the public to deepen its knowledge of the Island’s plants and animals.

During this event, Matt will explain how the program’s new website is recording species from across the Island through using both archival information and modern resources to log sightings past and present. Anyone can contribute to this growing Island atlas by reporting plant and animal sightings using the iNaturalist mobile app or directly on the MVAL website. Join us in learning more about how you can get involved!

The event will be hosted at the Polly Hill Arboretum in the Far Barn. The event is free but registration is required!