Wild Spotter vs CheatMaps

Wild Spotter aims to protect America's wild places from non-native plants, pathogens, and animals which outcompete our native species and threaten the biodiversity and health of every aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem. Promote Awareness America's wild places are home to beauty, diversity, and reflection yet they are under attack from invasive species. A goal of Wild Spotter is to bring awareness to the public about which species are invading, how to identify them, and how these species are spreading. Engage The Public You can help us fight back against harmful invaders by becoming a Wild Spotter volunteer or partner. By downloading the app on your smartphone, you can start collecting vital data on what species are invading, where they are located, and the extent of their invasion; All while you are enjoying the great outdoors. Defeat Invasives With the data collected by you, our team can create effective management strategies to defeat these invaders. You are helping to create the first-ever nationwide inventory of invasive species in America's natural areas. Protect Natural Areas By creating management plans and assembling an inventory of invasive species, you are helping to protect recreational activities, such as fishing, hunting, climbing, as well as clean water, abundant wildlife, and all benefits of being outdoors.

CheatMaps is an app designed to track the spread of cheatgrass within the Gunnison Basin, aiming to address the ecological challenges posed by its proliferation. Version 1.1 was developed as part of the 2024 Western Colorado University & University of Colorado Boulder Partnership Computer Science Capstone project. Update 2.0 is developed by the University of Colorado Computer Science capstone team. Both iterations are in collaboration with the Gunnison Sagebrush Alliance. Whether you are hiking, exploring, or spending time in the great outdoors, CheatMaps makes it easy to document cheatgrass sightings in the field. Users can first identify cheatgrass using an on-device state-of-the-art computer vision model, then submit that photo along with a description to create an observation. For more detailed observations, the app also includes AR tools that help users capture richer field data. Users can explore observations submitted by others on the map and export the dataset to better understand the spread of cheatgrass throughout the Gunnison Basin and beyond. By connecting everyday outdoor activity with ecological monitoring, CheatMaps is a valuable tool for researchers, land managers, and anyone passionate about preserving the ecological balance of the Gunnison Basin.