The 2024 Upper Delaware BioBlitz will be held Friday, June 28th and Saturday, June 29th on the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center property in Boyd’s Mills, Wayne County, PA. Over 40 renowned scientists and amateur naturalists comprising 8 teams, will convene on an approximately 200 acre portion of the property that contains over a mile of the South Branch of Calkins Creek. For 24 hours they will collect, identify and catalogue every living species visible to the naked eye and share their findings during the public portion of the event on Saturday with families from the region.
All donations are welcome!
Sponsorship spots are available NOW 2024 Upper Delaware BioBlitz. Costs of the event are kept low though a minimum budget of $10,000 is required to rent the event tents and other infrastructure and provide food and amenities for the scientists who travel to the event from as far away as DC, Philly, Ithaca, State College, Syracuse and NYC. Sponsors are requested to make a contribution to event expenses at the $500 or $1,000 level. Sponsors are acknowledged in all media, releases and in all event materials. At the higher sponsorship level you can set up a 10x10 foot pop-up tent on site and table to promote your business during the public portion of the event. We expect hundreds of families to attend as our outreach is targeted to local schools and youth groups. The Wayne County Community Foundation is the fiscal agent for the event and, as a pass-through 501(c)(3) organization, all contributions are tax deductible to the extent provided by the IRS code. If you'd prefer to donate by check, please send to the Wayne County Community Foundation with the "Bio Blitz" in the memo line of the check 918 Church Street, Honesdale, PA 18431.
The last Natural Areas Inventory in Wayne County was conducted by The Nature Conservancy in 1990. As the team leaders reported, the first occurrence results of the BioBlitzes reflect mostly on the dearth of field research conducted in the area. Some of the specimens require further study and collections have ended up with specialists at The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, The New York Botanical Garden, the Penn State University Herbarium and even the Smithsonian. More information is available at www.upperdelawarebioblitz.com . We hope the work of the BioBlitz will help motivate updating the County Natural Areas Inventory as it is the oldest in Pennsylvania and is supposed to be revised every 10 years.
