WeDigBio 2026 got off to a solid start! NfN received close to 2,500 transcriptions on day 1 of this 4 day event. Digitizing Biological Collections in Canada received over 1160 classification alone! Thank you so much for all that contributed.

We have so many fun projects available to work on. Please visit Notes from Nature today to contribute. We are especially excited about our new field book transcription expedition called W.C. Stanley’s Field Notes 1961 – 1963. Please give it a try.

— The Notes from Nature Team

We are excited to announce our first Notes from Nature transcription project using ALICE. ALICE is the Aggregate Line Inspector and Collaborative Editor tool. One of the main advantages of this tool is that it allows us to transcribe long pages of text a single line at a time. This means that we can transcribe one line of the page or the entire page depending on the time and motivation. 

This set of expeditions is part of the RANGES project, which is focused on biodiversity information about mammals. We are starting off our field note transcription expeditions with books from the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum mammal collection. 

William C. Stanley was a student at the University of Kansas (KU) from 1961-1963. While at KU, Stanley participated in three field expeditions. The first occurred in Summer 1961 as part of the late Curator of Mammals J. Knox Jones’s summer field course in Vertebrate Natural History. During the second trip, in Summer 1962, Stanley, Jones, and fellow KU naturalists, Ticul Alvarez and Richard C. Fox, surveyed mammals in Mexico. During  the third expedition, Summer 1963, Stanley surveyed bats in Kansas.Visit the RANGES Project on Notes from Nature and try it out! Look for the expeditions titled: W.C. Stanley’s Field Notes 1961 – 1963.

WeDigBio starts is less than a week. The event takes place April 9 – 12, 2026. People from all over the world join together to digitize museum specimen data and to celebrate biodiversity collections. We hope you can join us.

Notes from Nature will have lots of great expeditions to contribute to. We’ll be featuring butterflies, California plants, mammals and more so please stop by. It’s also very helpful if you can spread the word about this unique and important event.

Looking forward to it,

— The Notes from Nature Team

This exciting new project invites you to explore and transcribe specimens from the Royal Ontario Museum’s vast natural history collections—collections that bring together the worlds of biology, history, and nature in extraordinary ways.

Natural history collections hold thousands of untold stories. Each specimen label captures a snapshot of life: where a species lived, when it was collected, and what the environment looked like at that moment in time. These records are priceless tools for understanding how life on Earth has changed. Yet many of them remain hidden in old handwritten or typed labels that haven’t been read in decades. That’s where you come in.

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), one of North America’s leading cultural institutions, is home to an incredible 18 million objects, with natural history forming a vital part of its mission. Our first set of expeditions will shine a spotlight on insects and plants from across Canada—two incredibly diverse and ecologically important groups with so many specimens still waiting to be digitized.

By helping transcribe these labels, you’re doing more than converting labels into data—you’re unlocking scientific knowledge that fuels biodiversity research around the world. Your transcriptions will be shared through Canadensys and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), where they become part of global conservation action, scientific discovery, environmental policy, and education. These two open-access platforms can be used worldwide by anyone with an internet connection.

Whether you’re a returning Notes From Nature volunteer or joining us for the first time, we’d love to have you along for this journey. Every label you transcribe helps reveal a piece of our planet’s history—and helps protect its future.

Jump in and explore the new project today!

https://bit.ly/4bVH15v

Hello friends,

We have a few updates to share from Capture the Collections.

First, we’re excited to announce several new workflows now launching:

1. Our partnership with the University of Guelph continues with two new workflows focused on grasses (Poaceae) and sedges (Cyperaceae).

2. We’re introducing our first workflows from the Flora of British Columbia project, featuring the heather family (Ericaceae) and the rose family (Rosaceae).

3. Expedition Arctic Botany is back! These workflows highlight work completed in Summer 2025 by Molson students Tamara Chaput and Matthew De Roover, drawing from the lichen and liverwort collections.

We also have more difficult news to share. Herbarium digitization projects at the Canadian Museum of Nature are being paused, and Kim and Lyn will be stepping away from Capture the Collections. Until digitization efforts can resume, these workflows mark our final ones and will, we hope, help bridge the gap between the end of this digitization phase and what comes next. We appreciate your patience if there is a delay in hearing back from the project team or our guest moderators during this time.

It’s hard to fully express how grateful we are for the time you’ve spent with us—transcribing, discussing, and sharing your expertise on the Talk boards. Capture the Collections has never been just about mobilizing data; it’s also been about building community, and we truly hope you’ve felt that along the way.

Until next time,

Kim, Lyn, and Jennifer

1. Capilano River Salmon Hatchery, Vancouver, British Columbia Photo: K.Madge 2. Carex bigelowii subsp. bigelowii, Kangiqtualuk Agguqti, Nunavut. Photo: P. Sokoloff

Bonjour, les amis

Nous avons quelques nouvelles à partager de la part de Capture the Collections.

Tout d’abord, nous sommes heureux d’annoncer le lancement de plusieurs nouveaux flux de travail :

1. Notre partenariat avec l’Université de Guelph se poursuit avec deux nouveaux flux de travail consacrés aux graminées (Poaceae) et aux carex (Cyperaceae).

2. Nous présentons nos tout premiers flux de travail issus du projet Flora of British Columbia, mettant en vedette la famille des bruyères (Ericaceae) et la famille des roses (Rosaceae).

3. Expédition Botanique Arctique est de retour ! Ces flux de travail mettent en valeur le travail réalisé à l’été 2025 par les étudiantes et étudiants Molson Tamara Chaput et Matthew De Roover, à partir des collections de lichens et d’hépatiques.

Nous avons aussi une nouvelle plus difficile à partager. Les projets de numérisation des herbiers au Musée canadien de la nature sont mis en pause, et Kim et Lyn se retireront de Capture the Collections. Jusqu’à ce que les activités de numérisation puissent reprendre, ces flux de travail marquent nos derniers projets et aideront, nous l’espérons, à faire le lien entre la fin de cette phase de numérisation et la suite. Nous vous remercions de votre patience si un délai survient dans les réponses de l’équipe du projet ou de nos modératrices et modérateurs invités durant cette période.

Il est difficile d’exprimer pleinement à quel point nous vous sommes reconnaissants pour le temps que vous avez passé avec nous — à transcrire, à échanger et à partager vos connaissances sur les forums de discussion. Capture the Collections n’a jamais été uniquement une question de mobilisation des données ; il s’agit aussi de bâtir une communauté, et nous espérons sincèrement que vous l’avez ressentie tout au long de cette aventure.

À la prochaine,

Kim, Lyn et Jennifer

Help us find out more about our volunteers! As part of a PhD research effort*, we’re exploring who volunteers on citizen science projects like Notes from Nature and why. We invite you to complete a brief survey. The questionnaire will ask about personal information such as gender, age and ethnicity. It will also ask about your experience of taking part in the project. It should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. All responses will be kept confidential and anonymized. Taking part is entirely voluntary. The survey has received ethical approval from the University of York. More information can be found via the survey link. 

Thank you for your time.

*Sarah Laptain, a graduate student in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York, is leading this effort.  

We’d like to extend our gratitude to all the contributors. We had a whopping 47,523 images classified by 1910 unique Zooniverse users as well as contributions from 2640 sessions where contributors were not logged into the Zooniverse platform.

We are very excited to dig into the data now, which will help us understand how salamanders behave when they have access to thermal differences in their environment, and how they behave with and without thermal gradients after pathogen exposure. Your contributions to Project Cybermander are helping fill gaps in this knowledge about thermoregulation habits of amphibians and will help us make disease-risk projections for these special animals.

Thank you again and we’re excited to share final results as soon as we’re finished with analyses.

— Natalie Claunch

Our collaboration with the University of Guelph continues to grow with two new and fascinating flowering plant families: the Apiaceae (carrot or parsley family) and the Orchidaceae (orchid family).  

Members of the Apiaceae are easy to spot by their umbrella-like clusters of flowers. This family includes everyday favourites like carrots, celery, and parsley – as well as wild species that play important roles in ecosystems across Canada.  

The Orchidaceae, in contrast, are celebrated for their beauty and fragility. Orchids grow in many parts of the world, from tropical forests to northern wetlands, and include the variety that produces the beloved vanilla bean. Their beauty and vulnerability make them an important group to study and conserve.  

In these workflows, you’ll be capturing:  

Collector name

Collection date

Collector number

Your transcriptions will make these specimens easier to find and use for research, education, and conservation.  https://bit.ly/3rsFS0t

Keep an eye out – we’re also preparing projects on the Flora of British Columbia and Prince Edward Island!  

Capture the Collections × Herbier de l’OAC — notre collaboration fait germer de nouveaux flux de travail !

Notre collaboration avec l’Université de Guelph continue de croître avec deux nouvelles familles de plantes à fleurs fascinantes : les Apiacées (famille de la carotte et du persil) et les Orchidacées (famille des orchidées).   

Les membres des Apiacées se reconnaissent facilement à leurs grappes de fleurs en forme de parapluie. Cette famille comprend des plantes bien connues comme la carotte, le céleri et le persil -ainsi que des espèces sauvages qui jouent des rôles importants dans les écosystèmes partout au Canada.  

Les Orchidacées, quant à elles, sont célébrées pour leur beauté et leur fragilité. Les orchidées poussent dans de nombreuses régions du monde, des forêts tropicales aux milieux humides nordiques, et comprennent l’espèce qui produit la précieuse gousse de vanille. Leur beauté et leur vulnérabilité en font un groupe important à étudier et à conserver.  

Dans ces flux de travail, vous transcrirez :  

Le nom du collecteur

La date de collecte

Le numéro du collecteur

Vos transcriptions rendront ces spécimens plus faciles à trouver et à utiliser pour la recherche, l’enseignement et la conservation.  https://bit.ly/3rsFS0t

Restez à l’affût – nous préparons également des projets sur la flore de la Colombie-Britannique et de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard !

Hello friends,

Two new workflows are sprouting up on Notes from Nature: Capture the Collections  –  and we think you’ll go nuts for them!

All the Draba: Tales of Whitlow grasses

Small but mighty, Draba belong to the mustard family (Brassicaceae) and thrive in cold, rocky, and windswept habitats. Sometimes called “Whitlow grasses,” these hardy wildflowers are found across North America and around the world, from Arctic tundra to high mountain slopes. Draba often grow in disturbed areas – roadsides, pastures, and gravelly soils – and are among the first plants to bloom in spring, covering the ground with tiny white or yellow flowers. Though small, Draba play a big role in helping scientists understand how plants adapt and survive in extreme environments.

Notes from Nuts

Now for something a little nutty: the Fagaceae – also known as the Beech family – include some very iconic trees: oaks, beeches, and chestnuts. These trees are nut-orious! They form the backbone of many forests across the Northern Hemisphere, stabilizing soils, sheltering wildlife, and producing the acorns and nuts that sustain entire ecosystems.

Wood from these trees has shaped cultures and economies for centuries – from furniture and flooring to barrels and instruments. But their scientific value is just as enduring: studying these trees helps us understand forest health, climate resilience, and long-term ecological change.

As always, your contributions make these collections searchable, shareable, and scientifically meaningful. Whether you’re here for the alpine flowers or the mighty nut – bearing trees, join us in exploring biodiversity one label at a time.

 – Kim, Lyn, and Jennifer – The Capture the Collections Team

Nouveaux projets en germination : Draba et la famille des hêtres

Bonjour les ami·e·s,

Deux nouveaux flux de travail bourgeonnent sur Notes de la nature : Capturer les collections – et on pense que vous allez en devenir fous de nature!

  Tous les Draba : histoires de drabes

Petits mais puissants, les Draba font partie de la famille de la moutarde (Brassicaceae) et prospèrent dans les milieux froids, rocheux et exposés au vent. Parfois appelées « drabes » ou « whitlow-grasses », ces petites plantes robustes se retrouvent un peu partout en Amérique du Nord et ailleurs dans le monde, des toundras arctiques aux pentes montagneuses les plus élevées.

Les Draba poussent souvent dans les zones perturbées – le long des routes, dans les pâturages ou les sols graveleux – et comptent parmi les premières fleurs du printemps, recouvrant le sol de minuscules fleurs blanches ou jaunes. Malgré leur taille, elles jouent un grand rôle pour aider les scientifiques à comprendre comment les plantes s’adaptent et survivent dans des environnements extrêmes.

  Notes du noyer

Passons maintenant à quelque chose d’un peu plus casse-noisette! Les Fagaceae – aussi connues sous le nom de famille des hêtres – comprennent des arbres emblématiques comme les chênes, les hêtres et les châtaigniers. Ces arbres sont de véritables vedettes de la forêt : ils forment l’épine dorsale de nombreux écosystèmes à travers l’hémisphère Nord, stabilisent les sols, abritent la faune et produisent les glands et les noix qui nourrissent des écosystèmes entiers.

Leur bois a façonné des cultures et des économies depuis des siècles – meubles, planchers, tonneaux et instruments de musique – et leur valeur scientifique demeure tout aussi durable. Étudier ces arbres nous aide à mieux comprendre la santé des forêts, leur résilience face au climat et les changements écologiques à long terme.

Comme toujours, vos contributions rendent ces collections consultables, partageables et scientifiquement précieuses. Que vous soyez là pour les fleurs alpines ou les arbres à noix majestueux, joignez-vous à nous pour explorer la biodiversité, une étiquette à la fois.

— Kim, Lyn et Jennifer – L’équipe de Capturer les collections

WeDigBio starts in less than a week. The event takes place October 9-12, 2025. People from all over the world join together to digitize museum specimen data and to celebrate biodiversity collections. We hope you will join us at Notes from Nature.

Notes from Nature will have lots of great expeditions to contribute to. We’ll be featuring California plants, bees, environmental archaeology specimens and more, so please stop by. It’s also very helpful if you can spread the word about this unique and important event.

— The Notes from Nature Team