Step outside and you’re surrounded by life in every shape and size — most of it invisible at first glance.

Lichens clinging to bark, insects crawling through the leaf litter, or a lone shelf fungus on a tree trunk. But what species are they? With iNaturalist — an app I’ve mentioned for years in my columns — and Seek, uncovering them becomes an adventure and a way to help science. This week, I’d like to take a deeper dive.

iNaturalist lets you upload photos of any wild organism. The app suggests likely identifications, and other users confirm or refine them. Every observation becomes part of a growing scientific database, and you don’t need to be an expert to contribute. Many people start by documenting plants and insects in their own backyard.

Since its launch in 2008, iNaturalist has grown enormously. In Ontario, more than 250,000 users have submitted over 10 million observations, representing more than 15,000 species. Beyond science, iNaturalist adds a fun, competitive twist: users can see how they rank by number of observations and species.

Start by downloading the free iNaturalist app on your iPhone or Android device. Create an account and be sure the location (geotag) function is on. If not, you can add the location manually later.

Find a species of interest and take a few photos. To get the best identification results, take sharp, well-lit pictures from multiple angles — such as capturing the leaves and flowers of a plant or the gills and stalk of a fungus. You may also want to use your hand or a common object like a coin for scale. Focus closely on the subject and isolate it from the background. Your images will appear on the iNaturalist “details” page along with the date, time and location.

Tap “What did you see?” and the app will compare your photos to its enormous image library. It will suggest a likely genus and up to 10 possible species. It will also let you know whether each........

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