2025 Park Science Colloquium
2025-03-06 09:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | TN
This annual symposium showcases the research happening in and around the Great Smoky Mountains. Topics are wide-ranging, from weather and climate to zoology, botany, geology, conservation, and more! Talks are meant to be engaging to a broad audience and recorded to YouTube. All are welcome to attend this free virtual event! Register at the link below to receive a Zoom link.

2025 Line-Up

Here’s the most up-to-date version of the 2025 schedule and abstracts.

2025 Colloquium schedule & abstracts v4Download

Registration: Registration is free! Register here to receive a Zoom link over email. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions after each talk. Speakers DO NOT need to register. You’ll receive a Zoom link via email.

Check out talks from previous years

Information for presenters

Conference format: The Colloquium will be held virtually via Zoom’s Webinar platform. Presenters will be set as “panelists” on the Webinar, meaning that they can do most of the normal functions of a Zoom Meeting (share video, audio, and screen). Audience members will be able to ask questions and we will help manage questions. We’ll send presenters more information about what to expect closer to the colloquium.

Time slots: Presentation slots will be around 20 minutes (including time for questions). We will send you a finalized schedule close to the event and will provide more details about the Q&A after each talk.

Presentation format: Slide decks can be in any format (speakers will share their screen via Zoom), however we recommend PowerPoint, PDF, Google Slides or Keynote in wide-format (16:9).

Know your audience: Please note that many in the audience will have advanced degrees, but few will have advanced degrees in your topic, so plan to provide a bit of explanation of technical jargon and stay away from acronyms.

Recording presentations: We plan to record presentations and upload them publicly to our YouTube channel as we’ve done the past few years.

Pollinator 'Blitz
2025-04-17 10:00 - 14:00
Pollinator ‘Blitz

Join us to document pollinators and the host plants and wildflowers they are visiting! There is so much more to learn about pollinators and their vital role in the ecosystems of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

We will be using the iNaturalist app, to take photos and share to the community science platform. No prior experience necessary!

Register

When? Thursday, April 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where? Discover Life in America office 1316 Cherokee Orchard Rd Gatlinburg, TN 37738

Directions: from Cherokee Orchard Road, turn right into the Twin Creeks complex and continue on the road past the Twin Creeks Science Center and the road that goes to the pavilion until you see our little cabin and the Discover Life in America sign.

Little Cedar Mountain BioBlitz
2025-05-16 19:00 - 22:00
Free, family friendly opportunity to learn about local animals and plants while contributing to science. Join Discover Life in America and the Tennessee Valley Authority at Little Cedar Mountain in Jasper, TN.

Two chances to ‘blitz!

Friday, May 16, 7pm to 10pm Central: Join us for an evening of discoveries…we will continue in the dark, as we will set up a black light to monitor insect populations!

Saturday, May 17, 8am to 11am Central: The morning is a great time to look for birds and we will continue to look for other flora and fauna throughout the morning!

REGISTER HERE

Where?

TVA’s Little Cedar Mountain Trail in Jasper, TN

What’s a bioblitz?

During a bioblitz, volunteers help document as many kinds of animals, plants, and other organisms as we can find in a specific area. It’s also an opportunity for you to be a community scientist, gathering real scientific data, while also learning about the local flora and fauna living around you. We will be walking the trails, looking for bugs, flowers, salamanders, and other living organisms. We’ll photograph them with our phones and post pictures to our iNaturalist project. We’ll have experts on hand to guide small groups point out interesting facts about the organisms we see, and teach you how to use the iNaturalist app.

What will we be doing?

Walking the trails, looking for bugs, flowers, salamanders, and anything else we can find. We’ll photograph them with our phones and post pictures to our iNaturalist project. It’ll be a fun morning of outdoor time in a gorgeous natural space and we’ll have experts on hand to guide small groups around the trail and point out interesting facts about the organisms we see.

Afterward you can see what kind of organisms we found by visiting the project on iNaturalist, which will be left up indefinitely. We encourage you to revisit the Loyston Point trails and post what you find! Making iNaturalist observations helps TVA know what’s out there so they can better manage and protect these public lands.

Before the event

Download iNaturalist to your phone (it’s free!)

Follow prompts in the app to create an iNaturalist account

Bring water and some snacks (we’ll also provide water)

Wear weather-appropriate clothing and sturdy shoes for hiking

Get the iNaturalist app.

Download the app. Log in. Try it out.

ANDROID

iOS

Black Lighting for "Bugs"
2025-07-18 20:00 - 23:00
Black Lighting for “Bugs”…and other nocturnal insects!

When? July 18 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Where? Bradley Fork Trailhead at Smokemont Campground

Description: Join us to help document nocturnal life in Great Smoky Mountains National Park! We will also spend time at dusk using a bat detector to monitor for bat activity in the area! We will also spend time at dusk using a bat detector to monitor for bat activity in the area!

Why use black lights?

Many insects can see ultraviolet light, which has shorter wavelengths than light visible to the human eye. For this reason, a black light will attract different insects than a regular incandescent light.

We will be using the iNaturalist app, to take photos and share to the community science platform. No prior experience necessary!

Location:

Volunteer with DLiA

Volunteers have contributed significantly to the success of the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) since we began, through field work, education and outreach, and financial support. DLiA could not continue to function without the help of our dedicated volunteers and supporters. Thank you!
