NatureServe Explorer, our flagship tool, received a major upgrade in 2020! In addition to the refreshed design and user-friendly advanced search, users can now explore documented distribution maps for plants and animals tracked by the NatureServe Network. Stay tuned for future updates to the site in 2021!

The result of collaboration between major tech firms and biodiversity experts, NatureServe unveiled the results from the Map of Biodiversity Importance (MoBI) and released the map layers for free on Esri's Living Atlas. NatureServe is also working with the Network to develop maps for each state—see the Nevada state map as an example.

NatureServe gained national recognition for our work in biodiversity conservation. Check out a few of our top stories below:

• The New York Times
• Science News
• GW Prime
• Medium
• Belt Magazine
• Forbes

NatureServe and the NatureServe Network developed a new data observation standard that allows us to harness data from more sources than ever before. With this new standard, we are in a better position to put the most current and consistent data into the hands of researchers and decision-makers.

NatureServe has been selected as a winner of the 2020 Amazon Web Services (AWS) Imagine Grant for non-profits. The grant will support our efforts to design a cloud computing infrastructure for Biotics, our cutting-edge data and analytics solution for mapping species locations, modeling their habitats, and assessing their risk of extinction.

With the world currently facing an unprecedented rate of extinction, NatureServe and SAS have joined forces to apply analytics and AI for assessing the degree of imperilment for plants and animals. "With SAS, we have the potential to set a new global standard on how the world evaluates the condition of biodiversity," said Sean O'Brien, NatureServe CEO & President.

Through the AI for Earth program, Microsoft and NatureServe collaborated on the machine learning component of the Map of Biodiversity Importance. Now, that map will play a key role in Microsoft's new "Planetary Computer", which will make data more accessible to answer critical questions for scientists, businesses, and conservation.

NatureServe unveiled the Map of Biodiversity Importance at Esri's 2020 Federal GIS Conference to an audience of more than 5,000 people. Esri played a pivotal role on the development of the project, including the synthesis new environmental layers, and made the results of the project free to the public through their Living Atlas.

NatureServe adapted our spring conference, Biodiversity Without Boundaries, into a series of webinars featuring scientific experts from around the NatureServe Network. With more than 100 attendees at each session, the event was successful at keeping our network connected despite the physical challenges of 2020.

In partnership with GEO BON and EcoHealth Alliance, NatureServe continued with the Pulse of the Planet webinar series. Featuring global experts in science, biodiversity, and conservation, and with topics ranging from the pandemic to taxonomy to camera trapping, the series attracted more than 500 attendees this year.