I am a lifelong naturalist in pursuit of contributing as much as possible to our understanding of the natural world, documenting everything that flowers, slithers, walks, swims and flies.

My enthusiasm for nature began at about age eight with a keen interest in arthropods, especially scarab beetles and other insects. Starting at age 13, I spent the next few summers assisting with the complete resort of the Pennsylvania State University collection and leading public tours at the Frost Entomological Museum.

As an undergraduate at Penn State in the late 90s, I was employed with the Department of Agronomy and participated in various turfgrass research initiatives dealing with soil amendments, bentgrass morphogenesis, and fungal resistance among others (see selected pubs below).

Over time I also took a serious interest in ornithology, eventually setting various Big Day/Month/Year records, starting a new CBC and leading dozens of public walks. These days I pursue almost any organism and document them here, especially focusing on the tiny or cryptic organisms that tend to receive less attention.

You can view videos of some of the observations submitted here on My YouTube Channel.

Publications

First Record of Hydrophilus ensifer Brullé in the Continental United States
https://matthewpintar.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Pintar-and-Keller_2020_First-record-of-Hydrophilus-ensifer-in-the-continental-United-States.pdf

Creeping Bentgrass Morphogenesis and Competition
http://plantscience.psu.edu/research/centers/turf/research/annual-reports/1999ARR.pdf

Valuation of an athletic field root-zone amended with DuPont shredded carpet
http://plantscience.psu.edu/research/centers/turf/research/annual-reports/1999ARR.pdf

Volunteerism

San Diego Audubon Birding Festival Leader, 2013-2016
https://bvaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/1-Janurary-Digital-Edition-2014.pdf

Conservation of Virginia's Merrimac Farm:
http://www.pwconserve.org/issues/conservation/merrimacfarm/

Protecting the Quantico Creek Watershed:
http://www.pwconserve.org/wildlife/birds/lists/possumpoint.htm

Bird Walk Volunteer for Friends of Dyke Marsh, 2003-2006
https://www.fxva.com/event/dyke-marsh-sunday-morning-bird-walks/17970/

Press

2018 San Diego Union Tribune: San Diego places third in international biodiversity competition
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/north-county/sd-me-nature-challenge-20180504-story.html

1992 Daily Collegian: Museums attract not only pests
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/arts_and_entertainment/article_dd3cf442-216a-56f0-81d5-b509f427f54e.html

Outreach

24 April, 2018 - Collaborated with Kari McWest to Lecture on "Scorpions of the Southwestern US and their Venom Toxicity" to the US Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit Five (NEPMU-5) as part of their Seminar on Vector-borne Diseases
http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmcphc/nepmu-5/Pages/default.aspx

17 April, 2018 - Participated as a guest iNaturalist "super-user" at the San Diego Natural History Museum Nat Talk on Citizen Science with Dr. Jon Rebman and Dr. Brad Hollingsworth
http://www.sdnhm.org/calendar/public-programs/nattalks-and-films/

A Note About Community ID

Over the number of years I have contributed to iNaturalist, I have made the decision that opting out of "Community ID" is the most reasonable and optimal method of managing my participation for the reasons outlined below. I greatly value the contributions of those who take the time to ID others' content here so this choice should not be viewed negatively as I have occasionally encountered. Please keep an open mind!

1) Sometimes after significant and time-consuming analysis of an organism's identity, which often includes reviewing research papers, following detailed keys, etc, and arriving at a thoughtful identification, user may select a more general ID on it without expertise or effort. This can be correct or maybe it isn't, but having opted out of Community ID gives me the chance to review it for my own knowledge.

• If you are identifying organisms for others and disagree with a specific ID of theirs, it is unkind at best to not explain your reasoning. Consider that the contributor may have more expertise than you with the taxon, or may have put in the necessary work to ID it.
• Agreeing to a lower-level ID (e.g. adding a Genus-level ID to someone's specific ID) is generally not in good form unless you specifically feel the specific ID is unwarranted.
• If you have additional knowledge, please take a little time to explain your reasoning for your ID. This is both respectful to the contributor and helps us all learn so we don't make the same mistake next time.
• If you feel you don't have time to do this, then consider decreasing your ID volume as neglecting this step can lead to frustration for other users.
• Always remember that if you are unsure of an ID, you are under NO obligation to ID it here! Just leave it for someone else.

2) Occasionally there are spammers or others will ill intent that become active on the site, and this allow some control over that.

• For example, there are those who join the site because they were instructed to and a small subset of them tend not to take it very seriously.
• There are also those who seem to feel like racking up a lot of IDs is important but don't take the time to thoughtfully make each ID.

3) This setting helps me take others' identifications more seriously and forces me to review each disagreement.

• I tend to think of Community ID as a sort of "set it and forget it" process where contributors post an observation and never really look at it again. Having to review each ID allows me to learn, which is a significant aspect of why I utilize iNaturalist.
• If I agree, I will generally accept the ID. That said, if a user disagrees without explanation (especially with difficult-to-separate taxa), and I don't know you or maybe you haven't filled out your profile, I am not likely to agree just because you said it is what you feel it is. My ID accounts for something too. :-)
• I do my best to review each ID of disagreement, even those that offer no explanation,. If I haven't agreed with your ID then it may mean that I do not agree, it may mean that I haven't had the time to review it yet (I generally fave these for myself for later when time permits), or it is possible it got buried or the notification trigger failed.

4) Finally, If I don't respond to an ID or comment right away, understand I have MANY life pursuits away from iNat and I am generally always stretched for time, so it may take me a little while. I have nearly 50,000 observations on the site which means a fairly high volume of input from others occurs. If you feel I have overlooked something, you can politely nudge me. Be respectful and put a brief note on it to help me understand your choice. I assure you that will go a long way.

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