Bucharest, Romania

The Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) is the project that all third year students at WPI complete in collaboration with outside organization's to solve issues that involves the intersection of science, technology, and society. Our project assisted the Văcărești Natural Park Association in promoting and implementing a Citizen Science tool called iNaturalist into the park. Due to a lack of community engagement, the park wanted to find a way to both track the ever-expanding biodiversity in the park and have visitors of the park interact with nature more. Our project aimed to advance the awareness of urban biodiversity throughout Bucharest by developing approaches to promote iNaturalist at Văcărești Natural Park. We were able to accomplish this goal through a survey, interviews, and comparative analysis research.