Upon hearing about the BioBlitz, I knew that if there was one place to find abundant nature in New York City, it was in Central Park. After being contained in a subway cart for an hour, it was refreshing being able to wander around Central Park. I eventually found myself at the North Meadow Recreation Center, where we were told to meet at 2 p.m. The building was small but packed with students. Walking up to the table, I registered for my four hour shift and was sorted into the Insects group, the one group I was hoping not to be apart of.

After a quick explanation of what we would be doing, we split off from the other students and headed into the North Woods section of the park. We ventured off the path with New Yorkers lying on picnic blankets and tourists taking pictures and went onto the hiking trail. This area was much more secluded, the paths were barely visible and the trees obstructed the sky. From here we split into smaller groups and were given tools to help us find insects. My group consisted of two other girls and myself and our first task was to lure ants. We were handed ten petri dishes and zip lock bags filled with chocolate chip cookies and tuna fish. We set off to find five locations where we placed one dish of cookies and another dish of tuna within a foot apart from one another. In this process we stumbled upon a hidden waterfall, which was a pleasant surprise.

From there, we moved onto my least favorite of the tasks: aspirating bugs. Using a sifting tray, we took a large sample of foliage and separated the large leaves from the dirt and small insects. From there we sucked the bugs from the tray into a clear vile. Even though I knew that the bugs would never make it into my mouth, I was still not keen on the idea. After a few unpleasant minutes of aspirating, we finally had trapped around six or seven bugs in the glass container. Proud of ourselves for overcoming our fear of insects, we enthusiastically dropped our findings into a small bottle of alcohol used to kill the creatures.

The group then got to connect nature and technology with the introduction of Google Glass. There were three Google representatives who taught students how to use Glass and from there we got to venture out with nets in hand. Sweeping the nets back and forth among the plants helped trap a few insects and with a simple spoken command of “OK Glass,” the entire experience was recorded.

I used to always get ride of pesky insects as soon as I noticed them flying around me. Although the BioBlitz hasn’t completely changed that habit, (I’ll still get the flyswatter out if I need to) the event has however forced me to think about these miniscule insects and the role they play in their own ecosystem. The four hours spent in Central Park opened my eyes to how diverse wildlife is, even in the concrete jungle of New York City.