Listen to hear all about Bioblitz at Rocky Mountain National Park this coming weekend. 

National Park Service and National Geographic Society are teaming up to host a 24-hour BioBlitz species count and a two-day Biodiversity Festival, Aug. 24-25, 2012.

Part scientific endeavor, part festival and part outdoor classroom, the Rocky Mountain National Park BioBlitz will bring together 200 leading scientists and naturalists from around the country, thousands of local citizens of all ages and hundreds of students. Students are coming from as far away as Arizona and Costa Rica. Together they will explore the park, observing and recording as many plant and animal species as possible in 24 hours.

In this extraordinary experience open to the public.

In addition to the BioBlitz inside Rocky Mountain National Park a Biodiversity Festival will be taking place at the Stanley Park Fairgrounds in Estes Park. This free, family-oriented festival will be celebrating biodiversity with over 40 exhibits featuring music, live animals, science demonstrations, hands-on activities provided by prominent science and environmental organizations, food and art. The goal: to connect children and families to science and nature.

Adding more cause to celebrate, the Rocky Mountain National Park BioBlitz coincides with the National Park Service’s 96th birthday on Aug. 25. This is the sixth in a series of 10 BioBlitzes throughout the country leading up to the centennial of the National Park Service in 2016. Rocky Mountain National Park will turn 100 a year earlier, in 2015.

http://www.nps.gov/romo/naturescience/upload/BioBlitz_Paper.pdf