Land Snails in Los Angeles: An Experiment in Urban Citizen Science 

By Dr. Jann Elizabeth Vendetti, Associate Curator and Twila Bratcher Chair in Malacology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
“Land Snails in Los Angeles: An Experiment in Urban Citizen Science”: The land snail and slug fauna of Los Angeles County, like that of many other metropolitan areas, is under-surveyed and under-studied. To address this shortfall, in 2015 the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County began a citizen/community science project called SLIME (Snails and Slugs Living in Metropolitan Environments), focused on the terrestrial malacofauna from Southern California. As of early 2022, there have been more than 18,000 observations added to the project and approximately 100 species documented. Results have included first occurrence records for several species within Southern California counties and the documentation of range extents and limits of native and introduced taxa.
The outreach aspect of the project has engaged students and school groups, museum associates and members, and other community groups. The success of SLIME has been replicated with similar iNaturalist projects elsewhere in the U.S., including in Atlanta, Georgia and Seattle, Washington. In this talk, Dr. Vendetti will share highlights and insights of building a successful citizen science movement in the nation's largest urban area, and surprising discoveries about land snail and slug species in Los Angeles.