Thomas Mesaglio PhD student at the University of New South Wales School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Science, will be speaking via Zoom. Thomas’ presentation will explore the exponential growth of iNaturalist over the last ten years, with a particular focus on the platform in Australia. He’ll highlight the platform’s strengths and weaknesses, delve into the many fields that are now utilising iNaturalist data in real-world research, conservation and monitoring, and discuss how to improve the quality of your own observations and maximise the usefulness of the data you collect. He’s extremely passionate about citizen science, especially the biodiversity citizen science platform iNaturalist, where he is a curator and forum moderator. He’s also a great proponent of BioBlitzes, and has organised, co-organised, participated in, and led surveys for a range of events, including the City Nature Challenge, Great Southern BioBlitz, Big Bushfire BioBlitzes, and a Desert Discovery expedition. His main interests include urban ecology, Australian plants, beachcombing, invertebrates, and taxonomy. The presentation will be followed by the monthly meeting.