What's growing in your backyard?
In San Diego, one of America's most biodiverse regions, the answer is more complicated than you might think. It's home to roughly 3,000 plant species, with many still undocumented.
This episode follows hikers, students and nature lovers using the free app iNaturalist to photograph plants and animals, contribute to a global biodiversity database and help scientists protect fragile ecosystems. Some discoveries are extraordinary, like seeing your name on a scientific paper after spotting a plant never recorded in the county before.
We visit the San Diego Natural History Museum, head into a rare salt marsh along Mission Bay and join a community identification party to see how this grassroots effort is reshaping science in real time.
Researchers and volunteers say this kind of "citizen science" is no longer a side project — it's essential. Because when it comes to protecting ecosystems, the first step is simple: knowing what's there.
Guests:
- Jon Rebman, Ph.D., curator of botany at SDNHM
- Becky Escalante, citizen scientist spifferella on iNaturalist, dental assistant
- Stephanie Crawford, citizen scientist aneclecticenthusiast on iNaturalist
- Kellie Uyeda, Ph.D., executive director of UC San Diego's Natural Reserve System
- Clarissa Rodriguez, Ph.D., reserves director of UC San Diego's Natural Reserve System
Sources:
- Margie Mulligan, botanist, department associate at SDNHM
- Becky Escalante's discovery on iNaturalist
- Noteworthy Collections for San Diego County, California (J. P. Rebman and M.R. Mulligan with L. A. Johnson, F. Melgert, C. Hoegen, J. Asmus, J. Ayon, M. Basden-Thomas, S.Crawford, B. Escalante, L. Hendrickson, O. Singh, and K. Uyed, Crossosoma Journal of the Southern California Botanists, Inc., 2022) — scientific paper with Becky Escalante and Stephanie Crawford listed as co-authors
- San Diego Plant Atlas website
- Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve (University of California)
- What is a salt marsh? (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
- Vanishing Saltmarshes Threaten Climate Progress (Geographical, 2025)
- Understanding the Importance of Salt Marshes (Pei Xin, Alicia Wilson, Zhenming Ge and Isaac Santos, Eos, 2022)
- Parish's Glasswort — iNaturalist observation at Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve
- Coastal Goldenbush — iNaturalist observation at Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve
- Ridgway's Rail (CornellLab) — endangered bird that lives in salt marshes in and around San Diego
- Dodder timelapse videos: growing / choosing its host
- Stephanie Crawford's discovery on iNaturalist
- Daniel Cleveland (1838-1929) (San Diego Natural History Museum) — citizen scientist and lawyer who helped start SDNHM's plant collection
- Ethel Bailey Higgins (1866-1963) (San Diego Natural History Museum) — citizen scientist who helped create one of San Diego's first comprehensive checklists of species found in the region
- City Nature Challenge: San Diego
From KPBS Public Media, The Finest is a podcast about the people, art and movements redefining culture in San Diego. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, Pandora, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
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