Our goal is to learn all we can about the estimated 60,000+ kinds of organisms living in the Smokies and to share that information with the public. Discover Life in America was organized in 1998 after over one hundred researchers, educators, government officials and other interested parties met to discuss the idea of an All Taxa (species) Biodiversity Inventory of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Conference attendees agreed that an umbrella organization would be needed to manage the logistics of such a project. DLIA was born to address the needs of coordinating the research, raising and administering funds, developing facilities and infrastructure, and reaching out to the public through education and volunteer programs. On February 17, 1998 the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy hosted a meeting with Discover Life in America and members of the National Park Service in support of the Smokies All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI). Spring of 1999 marked the inaugural field season of the Smokies ATBI and saw DLIA host researchers from around the world; providing free housing, logistical support and funding. Public interest in the project soared after articles appeared in publications such as Science, Newsweek, National Parks and on National Public Radio. As a result, DLIA began volunteer training days and hosted Nature Quests during which researchers and volunteers combed the park for fungi, flies, soil invertebrates and algae. The data collected during the Nature Quests yielded new species records for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as well as species completely new to science. Today this research is still ongoing and DLIA has currently cataloged nearly 1,000 new to science species and over 10,000 new to park species.
