About Us
Learn, Participate, Conserve has been the foundation of Naturedigger since we started our journey ten years ago. Our mission has, and always will be, to educate the public about our natural world by offering free education through our iOS apps and website. We offer information and opportunities to participate in community science (also called citizen science) research and data collection, because we know hands-on involvement leads to more engaged nature enthusiasts, and ultimately, conservationists.
With limited funding and scant personnel, researchers are looking to the public for assistance collecting critical scientific data to further their research. In many cases, this data will provide important information to land managers, local, state and federal organizations, as well as nonprofit organizations, to help them make better informed conservation and management decisions. Naturedigger provides an important link between valuable community scientists and the organizations in need of their expertise and commitment, while also educating the public about the numerous issues we are facing in our natural world.
We hope our personal commitment to providing free, quality, nature education will create a new generation of enthusiastic naturalists and community scientists, who share one very important goal: to conserve our natural world and spread the word.
Our Founder
Our Founder
Naturedigger's founder, Tara Johnson, is a veteran environmental scientist and avid birder, who, throughout her 25-year career, has been employed in both private and public sectors. Naturedigger is a reflection of her many interests, which include threatened and endangered species, invasive species, community science participation and nature education. She not only promotes community science projects, but has been active in numerous projects herself for the past 20 years, including developing and leading invasive weed monitoring programs and participating in dozens of bird counts.
Since 2014, Tara's primary focus has been on monarch butterfly and milkweed education, conservation and community involvement. In addition to her iOS app (Monarch SOS), Tara has been busy writing books for the past several years on milkweed identification and monarch anatomy and life cycle stage identification. These resources will be used by community scientists to submit more accurate data to monarch conservation organizations.
Tara received a degree in environmental science, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts. Her career began in the early 90s in Melbourne, Florida where she worked with threatened species, including gopher tortoises and Florida scrub jays. Throughout her career, she has conducted wetland delineations, functions and values assessments, monitoring and replications, as well as endangered species surveys, relocations and permitting. She is also an invasive species consultant, educator, researcher and grant writer.
Download Our iOS Apps
Naturedigger covers a variety of topics in our iOS apps, but all share the same goal: to provide free, quality, nature education to every age group. Click on an app icon below to learn about each app and download them free on the App Store.
