E. M. Forster’s legendary words in Howard’s End counsel emotional connection; they also happen to describe the fundamental concept behind saving nature. Citizen science is a great tool for helping make connections between people, species, and ecosystems. This section of the website calls out a few key areas where we need to focus on connecting, and links to some projects and resources for doing so.

 

An ecological niche describes a species’ place in the world, including food sources and available building materials like those that went into this nest made by a Galapagos finch. As Homo sapiens are called on today to reconsider our own place in the world, we can avoid destroying hearth and home for other species, and help restore their habitats. The Glaucopsyche xerces on the homepage went extinct when Golden Gate Park was built—the butterfly lost its place. This butterfly will never come again, but citizen scientists are helping bring other species back to San Francisco.

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Nature in the City