With 2,689 observations submitted to the Vermont Atlas of Life in July, it certainly wasn't easy for last months winner Laura Gaudette to select a few for us. I think you'll agree though that she has found some real gems!. As always, if you are reading this and are a registered iNaturalist observer, you can vote (once) by replying to this post with the number of the photo-observation you like best. We usually ask the winner to make the next month selections.

1. http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/318655
2. http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/335057
3. http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/323719
4. http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/345752
5. http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/349889
6. http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/335425

Our July guest photo editor, Laura Gaudette, selected some amazing photos. The most popular photo-observation by vote was a jumping spider by Ron Payne. Look right into its eyes at http://tinyurl.com/l2qpl27. Thank you to all of you for sharing your amazing observations. We can't wait to see what is found this month!

A few of us recently asked iNaturalist creator and guru Ken-ichi if we could make life lists for locations. Ask and you shall receive! Now when you create a new life list you have the option to choose a place, and the list will update automatically based on the species you observe in that place. You still need to create a place with a boundary beforehand, but it is better than just a place because only you can add to your life list and it will update automatically. To get started, click the down arrow next to your dashboard and select Lists. If it is a new place, such as your yard, you will first have to go to Places and create a new place. Happy list building! Hmm... I see a yard contest coming to the Vermont Atlas of Life very soon...

Perhaps you know a friend that would join the Vermont Atlas of Life if they just had a basic tutorial to watch. Maybe you have been reluctant to add observations because you just have not quite figured out how to use the iNaturalist tools. Well, here are a few beginner video tutorials created by an iNaturalist user to help get you started! Check them out at
http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/video+tutorials and start posting your observations today!