DnD Nature Quest at Ballona Wetlands Preserve

This past Sunday, I held an event with community partners Cosplay for Science (C4S), Nerd Nite LA, Black Events LA, and of course Friends of Ballona Wetlands.

Gabriel one of the cofounders of C4S and I have been doing science communication at Comic Cons since 2020. Those experiences taught us there is a whole audience excited to learn about the science of their favorite pop culture properties and to do fandom inspired community science events.

Because the city of Los Angeles has a mandate of increasing the number of community members making observations on inaturalist, it only made sense that we’d host a bioblitz( an event where people go into a predetermined area for a set amount of time to document plants and animals found there.

Why Ballona Wetlands? Well the area is home to many endemic and rare species. It’s also located near LAX, an area of the city that the Zoo doesn’t often host events and we wanted to expand to engage new communities.

During a final walkthrough of the site I saw the gorgeous side blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana, you’re searching for below.

The nature quest was a success. We had double the attendees from last year, people came from our advertising at LA Comic Con, AND some people even came in cosplay!

This event shows that this kind of community engagement is much needed and should be further explored!

I’m really looking forward to future collaborations and creating more opportunities like this. And of course to #FindThatLizard in all the cool nature spots!

Let me know in the comments if you #FoundThatLizard! (Keep scrolling for the reveal)

Adventurers learning about the quest and paleontology at the Cosplay for Science booth.

Looking out over the wetlands.