Packing the basic tool of scientific inquiry – a smartphone – an army of data-hungry nature lovers will fan out in 16 cities later this month in hopes of cataloging every bit of biodiversity they can find in five days.

In the City Nature Challenge, April 14 -18, 2017, each location will vie with a rival in a “BioBlitz” to see which one can record the most species. The prize? Bragging rights and a deeper connection to the plants and animals right in their own back yard.

Part field trip, part ‘Pokémon Go,’ the BioBlitz has captured the imaginations of all sorts of people: millennials, school kids, retirees and families.

Thousands of wildlife spotters at 126 national parks took part in last year’s mammoth 24-hour BioBlitz the U.S. National Park Service held to mark its 100th anniversary. Citizen scientists submitted 50,000 observations and identified 6,481 species.

Participating in a BioBlitz is the chance to help make the world a better place, said RebeccaJohnson, biologist and co-manager of the Citizen Science program at California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.

“To try to save biodiversity on our planet we need to know where plants and animals are right now,” Johnson said. “The only way to do that is to go outside, look and see.” 

The images and data that volunteers capture and upload as they scour backyards, beaches, ponds and parks populate a database that scientists can use to address some of earth’s most pressing questions, from climate change and dwindling habitat to the decline and extinction of species.

The term BioBlitz was coined in 1996 by a U.S. National Park Service naturalist for a biodiversity event held at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Washington, D.C. The trend quickly rose in popularity with the help of smartphones and mobile apps to record observations.

Since the launch in 2007 of iNaturalist, the community-powered website and app now owned by the California Academy of Sciences, 75,000 people in the U.S. have made 3 million observations using the platform.

The Academy and an avid following of Bay Area nature enthusiasts use the app in periodic BioBlitzes year-round. See the remarkable roundup of wildlife they’ve spied at San Francisco’s Heron’s Head Park.

The first City Nature Challenge was held last year pitting the Bay Area against Los Angeles County to see which community could record the most species. The completion drew more than 1,000 participants. Los Angeles, with 10,456 observations completed, edged out San Francisco, with 9,939 observations.

This year, CAS and co-sponsor Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County are taking the competition national.

Sixteen cities will face off for biodiversity this month: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Austin, Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Duluth/Twin Ports, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago/Cook County, Nashville, Boston and suburbs, New York, Washington, D.C., Raleigh/Research Triangle area and Miami-Dade County.

Don’t see your town? Anyone can download the iNaturalist app and begin recording observations. Plenty of cities and groups host their own BioBlitz events: Oklahoma’s Virtual Spring BioBlitz! throughout April; the Indiana Academy of Science two-day BioBlitz in east-central Indiana June 10 and 11; and the year-long Texas Geo BioBlitz through February 2018.

Check with local nature sanctuaries and the iNaturalist BioBlitz calendar for events near you.

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