An avatar is the small image placed below the username (when present) in the left column. For example, under my name on the left side, there is the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research logo, which is used for "at a glance" identification of a post by a staff member, researcher, student or volunteer from UBC. There are some avatars available to non-UBC BGCPR associated people. These can be added to your posts by clicking on the green "user cp" button in the upper right, selecting "Avatar" and then choosing an avatar and hitting submit.