Project Noah

Project Noah is a tool that nature lovers can use to explore and document wildlife and a technology platform research groups can use to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere. The purpose of the project is to mobilize and inspire a new generation of nature lovers. It began as an experiment to see if we could build an app for people to share their nature sightings and has evolved into a powerful global movement for both amateurs and experts. The name "Noah" is an acronym that stands for networked organisms and habitats. • How do I start? You can start by signing in with any of your existing online accounts including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo!, Windows Live and Aol. If you don't have one of these accounts, we invite you to sign up for one to quickly join the project. Once you've logged in for the first time you'll be presented with your "My Noah" dashboard. Here you can upload, manage and view your spottings and browse spottings submitted by the community in real-time. If you have an iPhone or Android smartphone, we have mobile applications available to help you connect to Project Noah on the go. • Why do I have to use an existing account to join Project Noah? At Project Noah we value your privacy and your sensitive personal account information and that's why we rely on trusted services like Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft to validate and authenticate your accounts. We do not store your passwords. In fact, we don't even get to see them. We feel this is the safest and most secure way of handling your personal account information and that is why we require you to have an existing account in order to join. • What is a Project Noah Ranger and how can I become one? Project Noah Rangers are an important part of our active community. Rangers welcome new users, help identify species, remove inappropriate content, and ultimately support our mission to bring awareness to our planet's biodiversity. Rangers are selected based on their knowledge and contributions to the community and receive a special Ranger patch that can be seen on their patch pages or when they leave comments or suggestions. If you think you have what it takes to be a Ranger or if you would like to nominate someone to become a Ranger, please email us at [email protected]. • How do I follow people and why should I follow people? When you sign up to Project Noah, we encourage you to follow users who interest you. For example, if you love reptiles, you can follow Project Noah members who contribute great reptile spottings. To follow someone, just click on their profile photo. This will take you to their public profile page where you will see a "follow spotter" button you can click on. By following people, you can customize your Project Noah experience and control what kind of spottings come into your main feed for viewing. When you're logged in and on your home page, right above the activity stream you will see some options to filter spottings. If you click on the "following" filter you'll only see contributions made by the users you're following.