Snapshot USA is an annual collaborative effort between scientists and community scientists to sample mammal populations with camera traps across the United States. Every year, Snapshot collaborators use a standardized protocol to sample sites stratified across habitats and development zones from September through October. In 2022, data were collected across 132 camera trap arrays in 44 states and consisted of 2,160 camera sites, 2,393 camera deployments, and 94,175 camera trap nights. All data are managed and identified within the Wildlife Insights platform, which uses Artificial Intelligence to assist with identifications and enables nationwide collaboration. Since the project began in 2019 through 2022, we have recorded over 410,000 detections of 131 mammal species and collaborated with over 150 institutions across all states. We are now processing the 2023 data and are preparing to conduct surveys again in 2024. This continually growing dataset has a wide range of potential uses, including tracking wildlife populations’ responses to changes in land use, land cover, and climate across spatial and temporal scales. With this in mind, we are seeking to expand the Snapshot USA network and welcome many new collaborators. To facilitate participation, we have five camera kits available for participants belonging to underprivileged groups.

Brigit Rooney is the Survey Coordinator for the nationwide and collaborative Snapshot USA camera trapping project, based at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. After developing a passion for camera traps during her Master’s fieldwork on African elephants, Brigit dove head-first into using them both as a hobby in her home state of Montana and then in her work as a bobcat research technician in California. She loves to spread the joy of camera traps and appreciates the many opportunities to do so through Snapshot USA.