What happens when you turn 100 or more islanders and nature lovers loose to witness, count and photograph every living thing in one area in 24 hours? Find out the answers in this summary of 7 Bioblitz efforts spanning the last 10 years on Vashon-Maury Islands. Learn about the unique, rare, ubiquitous, invasive, large, small, quiet and colorful lives that share this island with us and the community that is created around the shared love of looking deeply at nature. Vashon Nature Center Director Bianca Perla will share stories and local highlights against the backdrop and perspective of larger regional and worldwide trends in biodiversity science.

Bianca Perla is the founder and director of Vashon Nature Center. She has a Ph.D. in Ecology from University of Washington, an MS in Animal Behavior from Northern Arizona University, and a BS in Earth Systems from Stanford University. For the past 25 years, Bianca has enjoyed working as a wildlife biologist in remote wilderness areas from Grand Canyon AZ to the River of No Return Wilderness, ID. She has also worked as an environmental educator in Yosemite National Park. Her passion for nature was sparked as a child with the license to roam the forests, beaches, and creeks of Vashon. Like the salmon, she returned home, spawned, luckily didn't die, and is thrilled to be back, raising her family, and doing work she loves in a community she holds dear.

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