September 10th, 2022 saw over 50 volunteers on the hills of Brush Mountain, adjacent to Jefferson National Forest, on the search for invasive plant species. The event was co-organized by the Town of Blacksburg, the Invasive Species Working Group, and a team of graduate Interfaces of Global Change fellows: Jordan Coscia, Bailey Howell, Nic Bone, and Forde Upshur.

Despite the rainy weather, the volunteers made 1,088 observations using iNaturalist. They recorded 168 species of plants, animals, and fungi over two hours. These observations included 208 sightings of 9 different invasive species. The IGC graduate student team will use the locations and prevalence of these invasive species to create a guide to help the Town make management decisions as they develop the new property into a set of trails connecting the national forest to Gateway Park and beyond.

Written by IGC Fellow, Jordan Coscia

group forming for bioblitz
IGC Fellows helped to organized the BioBlitz as part of their Capstone Project. The IGC Capstone Experience is an extracurricular, student-led project under the mentorship of GCC faculty. The capstone experience is designed to practice skills that promote successful team-based collaboration, and to apply skills for working at the science/society interface.
people taking photos on their phones
raning day bioblitz