Georgia Southern Biological Survey (GSBS)

Overview

The Georgia Southern Biological Survey (GSBS) began in 2015, via funding from the Georgia Southern University Center for Sustainability. The mission of the project is to document the richness and distribution of biodiversity on Georgia Southern’s campus. In so doing, the project will establish baseline levels of biodiversity that can be tracked over time. Thus far, faculty and students from Georgia Southern’s Department of Biology have documented 194 vertebrate species, spanning birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. See below for a complete list of documented species. Monitoring levels of biodiversity at Georgia Southern helps to ensure the sustainable management of our campus and plan future campus activities or development in ways that minimize impacts to biodiversity. We welcome and encourage additional student and citizen involvement as we continue to grow the project.

Species documented to date

How You Can Help

We are asking for interested members of the community to look for vertebrate animals on and around campus.  Any observations may be reported to the Georgia Southern Biological Survey either online or through your mobile device. The GSBS is also available via the popular citizen science program iNaturalist. You can access our page and upload observations two ways:

1. Online at the GSBS project page
2. Through the iNaturalist mobile app on your smartphone (more instructions below)

Submitting observations to GSBS through the iNaturalist mobile app

Part 1: Joining the GSBS project

1. Download the iNaturalist app and create an iNaturalist account on your mobile device
2. Once logged in, go to the ‘More’ menu on the bottom right of your screen
3. Select the ‘Projects’ menu
4. Click the magnifying glass icon at the top right of your screen and search for “Georgia Southern Biological Survey”
5. Once on the project page, select the “Join” button at the top of your screen underneath the project icon

Part 2: Submitting observations

1. Select the “Observe” button in the bottom center of your screen (camera icon)
2. Take a picture or audio recording of your find (or select an existing one from your phone)
3. Fill in as much additional information as you can in the following screen
4. After entering all the details that you can, click the ‘Projects’ menu at the bottom and make sure that the ‘Georgia Southern Biological Survey’ project is checked. This makes sure that your observation gets sent to us!
5. Press ‘Share’, and feel good about contributing to important science!

For More Information

Please contact:

Mammals: Dr. Michelle Cawthorn, mcawthor@georgiasouthern.edu

Birds: Dr. Ray Chandler, chandler@georgiasouthern.edu

Amphibians and Reptiles: Dr. Lance McBrayer, lancemcbrayer@georgiasouthern.edu

Fish: Dr. Jamie Roberts, jhroberts@georgiasouthern.edu

Last updated: 7/27/2021