Citizen science is a great way to gather data for research. In this case a tool called ISpot facilitated the indentification of a moth found by citizen scientist.

I read this article this morning in the UK Independent about a young girl who found a moth on her windowsill. Her dad subsequently took a picture of it and posted it on ISpot. It was a new discovery for the UK but not a new species which was identified within 24 hours by an Open University expert.

The Moth was later added to the Natural History Museum‘s collection. Seems like this young girl is quite a nature enthusiast who was inspired to start visiting the museum.

Martin Harvey, a researcher at the Open University’s Biodiversity Observatory, who identified the moth, said: “Katie’s find demonstrates the power of the internet, and iSpot in particular, in helping everyone learn about wildlife.

Wonderful!