General Questions
What is Project Noah?
Project Noah is a global platform to photograph, identify, explore and learn about wildlife. Our long-term vision is to mobilize and inspire a new generation of nature lovers.
How do I start?
Once you've registered on Project Noah, you'll be presented with your "My Noah" dashboard. On “My Noah,” you may upload, manage and view your wildlife spottings, along with any nature stories (or “blogs”). You will also be able to see any of your earned Patches.
Why should I fill out my profile page?
Once you have joined Project Noah, you may change your user name and profile photo by clicking on the “Edit Profile” under your photo on “My Noah”. You can also add some information about yourself that will appear on your profile. Your profile page is what everyone sees when they want to learn more about you. We encourage you to fill out your profile page so people know where you’re from, what you’re interested in, and what your background is. Our community is really the heart of Project Noah and by filling out your profile page you allow others to get to know a little bit about you.
Commenting and Favoriting Spottings
We encourage users to show their appreciation for spottings by leaving positive, interesting or educational comments on other user’s spottings and by favoriting those they like best by clicking on the heart icon below the spotting photo.
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 his or her profile photo. This will take you to their public profile page where you will see a “Follow” button below the user’s profile. By following people, you can customize your Project Noah experience and control what kind of spottings come into your activity feed for viewing.
What is a Project Noah Ranger and how can I become one?
Project Noah Rangers are an important part of our 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 would like to apply to become a Ranger or nominate someone, please email us at [email protected]
How do I join a mission?
To join a mission, find one you think is relevant and you can contribute to. Once you've found one, simply click on the "Join Mission" button on the mission page and it'll be saved to your mission list when you submit a new spotting. You can join and leave missions at any time.
Where can I find and access Project Noah?
Project Noah is a web-focused platform. We encourage users to share their wildlife photograph spottings here on our main site (projectnoah.org). We do not presently have mobile applications.
Photographing and Documenting Wildlife
How do I create a new Wildlife Spotting?
In order to create and submit a new spotting, you must first be signed in. Once you are signed in, click on the “Create Spotting” button. Next, you will fill out the new spotting form and attach at least one photo before saving and submitting the spotting.
What should I add to my Spotting?
We encourage you to share as much information as possible about your wildlife spotting encounter. Add a clear and accurate description of the organism and its habitat as well as any relevant notes. The most important piece of information is where you found it. Make sure you record, as precisely as you can, the exact location where you found the organism. Remember to tread lightly and always respect the wildlife you encounter. This includes not handling any organism that may be harmed or stressed unless you have been trained to do so safely.
What types of photos should I submit as Spottings?
The best submissions are of an individual species with several clear photos and detailed notes. This remains true whether you’ve encountered an orchid or an orca. We understand that sometimes you might not have the chance to snap multiple photos or even one properly focused photo and that is OK, but please make sure that the species involved can be clearly seen and is recognizable. Our community enjoys learning about the circumstances leading up to your encounter and providing more information along with more photo angles can help tremendously with identification.
Although sunsets and landscapes make for beautiful photographs, we are focused on documenting specific species so unless there is a sea gull flying across the sunset or a grouping of pine trees in the middle of the landscape, please refrain from submitting those types of photos. There are other great sites for that sort of photography.
We also request that photographs are submitted in as natural a state as possible. We appreciate that often there will be a need to carry out minor improvements such as cropping, lightening and sharpening an image so that we can better see the detail of the organism it portrays. These minor improvements are perfectly acceptable but we do request that heavily Photoshopped or otherwise manipulated images are not shared on Project Noah.
Please also refrain from posting spottings of people; we appreciate that on occasions you may have a wildlife spotting that includes a person in the photograph - in this instance please crop your photograph so that the animal or other organism remains the focus of the image.
As we are a community of wildlife lovers, we request that you do not post any images that may cause offense to other users, such as hunting or fishing trophy photographs. We also ask that you do not add dead organisms except those taken as food by living organisms in their natural habitat.
Our primary focus is wildlife. We do not accept pet photographs.
Remember, any photograph you submit must be your own work, or you must have permission from the original photographer to use the image. Photographs copied from the Internet or other sources may infringe copyrights so we cannot accept them.
Can you share some guidance on what to enter into the fields?
- Common Name:This is the name that you would use to describe the species. For example, Monarch butterfly.
- Scientific Name: This is the Latin name used to identify the same species no matter where in the world you might be. For example, the scientific name for the Monarch butterfly is Danaus plexippus. Wherever possible, please include a scientific name for your spotting as this helps us link your spotting with others of the same species. If you know the common name of the species, it is usually possible to find a scientific name by a quick Google search. If you don't know the identity of the species, please complete as much information in the description and select the "Help me ID this species" radio box. We have many experts within the Project Noah community that will help identify spottings. We also encourage you to try and find out the identity for yourself using the many resources available on the Internet.
- Description: This is where you can add details that may not be clear in the photograph, such as approximate size, which will help in identifying the organism. For animals and birds, you could describe their actions as you saw them, e.g. did they run, walk, hop, swim, dive; were they alone, in pairs, small groups large groups. If there are differences between the males and females but your photo only shows one you could explain these. It is not necessary to copy lengthy descriptions from reference sources here as there is a 'reference links' box for this purpose.
- Habitat: Please state the actual habitat where you photographed the spotting - this information can then be used to track changes in habitat, such as those caused by human intervention or habitat destruction. Again, it is not necessary to state published habitat information here, this can be referenced in the 'reference links' box.
- Notes: Here you tell us about your encounter with the spotting and add anything not covered in the above fields.
Did Project Noah update its organism categories?
The former "Invertebrates" category is now labeled as "Arthropods". Arthropods are mainly land invertebrates including insects, arachnids, myriapods and crustaceans. We feel this is a much more accurate title for the category. Furthermore, mollusks (e.g., squid, slugs, snails, worms, etc.) and other remaining marine invertebrates (e.g., nudibranches, jellyish, starfish, etc.) will now belong in the "Other" category.
Can I submit zoo animal photos?
We ask that you focus your sights and your cameras on true wildlife in their natural habitats. When submitting photos of zoo animals, we ask that you make it clear in your notes. Zoos play a key role in exposing us to a wide variety of plants and animals and many zoos are instrumental in rehabilitating injured animals and protecting endangered species. Sadly, as more species go extinct in the wild, zoos are becoming a last refuge for many plants and animals and it’s important to highlight those efforts and bring awareness to those species. Whilst we do allow captive animals in zoos and aquariums, our aim is to share wildlife spottings in as natural circumstances as possible, which is why we request that you do not post photographs of animals being used purely for the purpose of entertainment such as dolphins and whales in marine parks and circus animals.
Can I submit pet photos?
Project Noah does not accept pet photos. Our focus is wildlife in an organism's natural habitat.
How about houseplants and garden plants?
Houseplants and garden plants are not Project Noah’s focus. Project Noah’s preference is for spotting photographs to be taken in the natural environment wherever possible.
Can I add a watermark to my photos?
You are allowed to add a watermark to the photos you share but we request that this is unobtrusive and does not dominate the image in any way.
Earning Patches
How do I earn patches?
Project Noah has four classes of patches. "Spottings" patches are earned by the number of spottings contributed. To earn "Mission" patches you'll have to join and contribute spottings to specific missions. "Special achievements" are earned through interesting relationships between the spottings you submit. "Specialist" patches are reserved for people who submit a significant amount of spottings for a specific wildlife category. For example, if you upload a significant number of fungi spottings you will be deemed a specialist in that category.
What are patches for?
When creating our patches, we were influenced by the merit badges from the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts. These patches help identify the specific strengths of our members. They also encourage new members to continue contributing to Project Noah. Ultimately, awarding patches is a fun way for us to recognize our community members and their wonderful wildlife contributions.
Identifying Wildlife
What are Species Suggestions and Species IDs?
We want to help you learn more about the wildlife that's around you. When you submit spottings, other community members can make species suggestions (also known as “Species Suggestion IDs”). These suggestions help you identify species or to point you toward helpful species references. Community members may then decide if they agree with the suggestions by voting on them. If you are unsure of the correct species in your spotting you may request help by ticking the “Help me ID this species” box during the submission process. The ID suggestions process, in addition to helpful comments from our community members and Project Noah Rangers, is a powerful way to crowdsource the identification of species. After experts and/or other community members have suggested a species ID for your unknown spotting, it is up to you to decide whether or not you agree with the suggested species ID. If you do, we ask that you update your spotting to reflect this new information.
What does it mean when a spotting is “identified” or “not identified”?
Submitted spottings are categorized as either “identified” or “not identified”. Spottings are defined as “Identified” when the Scientific Name field is filled out. Spottings are defined as “Unidentified” when the Scientific Name field is empty.
When a user is uploading their Spotting, the “Help me ID Species” radio flag is an additional helpful visual queue to show community members this user is looking for help with identification.
If you have received a species suggestion for an unidentified spotting, you should check the reference link provided in the suggestion to make sure you agree that the suggestion is correct. If you’re in agreement, we then recommend updating the common name, updating the scientific name and adding in the reference link. Your spotting has now moved from being unidentified to identified and you have played an active role in making Project Noah a citizen science project!
What if someone doesn’t update their spotting to reflect a species ID?
We have many generous community members who dedicate their time to help you identify your spottings. When someone suggests a species ID for your spotting, take a look at the suggested information and do some of your own research to see if you agree. If you do, update your spotting to reflect this new information. Remember to always include a scientific name and a reference link to all species suggestions you make.
What are some of the sites you recommend for reference links?
We're always on the look out for sites that serve as online field guides. Here are some of the sites we think have great resources for classifying and identifying wildlife: Wikipedia, Encyclopedia of Life, Discover Life, iNaturalist, Bug Guide, Audubon, Butterflies & Moths, World Register of Marine Species USDA Plants Database.
Copyrighted or Inappropriate Content
What if I encounter copyrighted content?
In the event that you come across a photo that a user does not have the rights to share, we recommend using the Red Flag Icon to flag the spotting and notify the Project Noah team of this copyrighted content. You may also send us an email with the URL of the specific spotting to [email protected]
What if I encounter inappropriate or inaccurate content?
In the case that someone has disregarded our terms & conditions or community rules, we recommend using the Red Flag Icon to flag the spotting and notify the Project Noah team of this inappropriate or inaccurate content. You may also send us an email with the URL of the specific spotting to [email protected]
