(gentle music) - What does technology have to do with biodiversity, computers and conservation, coding and caterpillars?

(chuckles) Well, you'd be surprised how much.

California, the epicenter of the tech boom might seem worlds away from the lush rainforest and diverse ecosystems that we often associate with biodiversity; yet Silicon Valley is an unlikely ally in the fight to protect our planet's precious species.

Conservation technology, such as remote sensing and artificial intelligence, is revolutionizing the way we address pressing environmental challenges like climate change, habitat loss, and shifting migration patterns.

By harnessing the power of data and innovation, scientists and conservationists are gathering unprecedented insights into the natural world.

We sat down with Scott Loarie and Carrie Seltzer of iNaturalist, a social platform for science and conservation to explore the role of their technology in safeguarding earth's biodiversity.

How it works is that users on iNaturalist record their encounter with an organism in the public dataset.

What's really unique is that other users then add identifications to each other's observations in order to confirm or improve the identification of the observation.

This crowdsourcing adds a rich tapestry of information about a particular place, one observation at a time.

- One of the things I think is so cool about iNaturalist is that there's such a doom and gloom thing going on with the environment right now and it is not a happy story, I mean, crazy challenges we're facing, but it's sort of like, yeah, you know, climate change, nothing you can do about it, or in iNaturalist, there is something we can do about it.

And the reason why there's a lot of impact is because there's not just you, there's millions of people around the world doing the same thing.

So there's sort of this collective, this thing that emerges from lots of people working together, but it empowers you as an individual because none of that would be possible if you weren't going out and contributing information, sharing from what you're seeing in your local area.

- You might ask how this collective community impacts science.

You know, especially since we're losing three species per hour.

Does citizen science, especially on an app, really make a difference?

We talk to Carrie to find out.

- One of the things I think about a lot is I think about each observation like a speck of paint in a pointillist painting, right Everyone's putting their little bits of paint on the canvas, and when you're up close, you see all your little pieces, you see, you know your favorite areas, all your favorite species, and as you step back, this picture emerges and it takes millions of people all over the world to make this beautiful painting of biodiversity.

And right now, there's still tons of gaps.

I mean, I think there'll always be gaps.

There's still so many species that haven't been described yet, but I just love...

It's really for me, personally, motivating and empowering to think like, you know, I'm working on this little piece of the canvas, and you can work on a different piece of the canvas, and everyone truly has something that they are uniquely positioned to contribute to this beautiful picture of biodiversity and how it's changing.

- One of the biggest advantages of using tech for conservation is its power to connect with people.

Think about it.

Millions of folks out there with devices in their hands, all potential nature detectives.

This only makes learning about nature more personal.

It also helps scientists get a clear picture of how ecosystems are doing.

- One of the things that really gives me hope is that we know people can really make a difference and improve these ecosystems.

Like I grew up not far from here on the Russian River.

And I was just a kid exploring it and never saw a steelhead, I never saw a bald eagle, I never saw this amazing frog called the foothill yellow-legged frog.

All those were gone.

And then it was only when I was in college, that I started to see, wow, the bald eagle here is.

There's a steelhead in the streams, there's these frogs.

And that was because simple things that people stopped doing, you know, is like, maybe we shouldn't put all the pesticides in the river.

People were able to completely bring this ecosystem back to life.

And what's cool is that the species are really the indicator of the health, you know?

So there's all sorts of different things you can say, why is this river healthier and healthy, which is, those species being there with such a striking absence of my youth, and now they're back.

- I think iNaturalist is uniquely positioned to empower people to make change for biodiversity wherever they are in the world.

Because wherever you are, there are unique species there that we need to understand how they're going to be affected by climate change, how people are going to be affected by that change, and people who've got ideas about what we can do for biodiversity and people in the face of that, these massive changes.

And I hope that people find hope and inspiration in iNaturalist because it is ultimately such a personal and in some ways intimate thing to really start paying attention to what's around you.

And if people are feeling overwhelmed and discouraged by the state of the world, there's always a species near you that needs your attention.

And I hope that that can feel more achievable to people.

- What we've learned is that technology can be an important ally for biodiversity conservation.

So what can you do?

For one, get outside, look around.

The plants and animals record can be helping conservation efforts live time.

Now, how cool is that?

Until next time, happy exploring.

(gentle music)