You are invited to join friends and members of the Oconee Bell Chapter for a Zoom talk with Todd Witcher, Executive Director with Discover Life in America (DLiA).

WHEN: Thursday October 2, 2025, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM

WHERE: Zoom (online) or meet at the Cashiers Rec Center, 355 Frank Allen Road, Cashiers, NC.

Don’t miss this chance to learn about Discover Life in America (DLiA), a nonprofit organization committed to studying and conserving biodiversity. Todd Witcher will describe and explain its flagship project, the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and prospects for extending the online Atlas of Biodiversity beyond the confines of the park.

To find out (for example) where to look for Jack-in-the-Pulpit blossoms in nature and if the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has any wild populations of Jack-in-the-Pulpit, you will be pleased to learn about what the investigators on this project have been doing for the Smokies ATBI.

The ATBI is gaining ground in scientific discoveries! The Smokies ATBI has doubled the number of species known to Great Smoky Mountains National Park from around 10,000 species when the project began in 1998, to now more than 22,000 species. Among the over 11,000 species that represent new records for the Park and more than 1,000 species that are new to science, some of them are now mapped making it easy for you to find them with the online Atlas of the Smokies.

Registration is required. Those who register will receive additional information and the Zoom link via email.