Tag: butterflies

In the past 40 years, butterfly populations have declined dramatically across the American West, both in cities and in the wilderness. Overall, butterflies are now declining at a rate of 1.6 percent each year. That’s what researchers using butterfly observations from citizen scientists and professional researchers found in a recent study. Their work, drawing from […]

In Nebraska, scientists working for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission are increasingly relying on casual researchers and citizen scientists to better understand three creatures in particular: spotted skunks, salamanders, and regal fritillary and monarch butterflies. Why? The populations of these species have either declined or are in jeopardy, and scientists want to get a current population […]

Do you live in Mexico, the United States, or Canada? Then starting tomorrow, you can join in the second International Monarch Monitoring Blitz. From July 28 to August 5, it’s time for #MissionMonarch. By joining in on the Blitz, you help identify the monarch butterfly’s breeding sites, a task essential to its survival. You can […]

By Cora Lund Preston, Communication Specialist for Monarch Joint Venture The Monarch Monitoring Blitz has begun! Grab your hats, sunscreen and clipboards and join fellow citizen scientists for some fresh air and an international monarch monitoring blitz from July 29-August 5th! With enough reports, your information will provide a snapshot that helps scientists understand the range […]

Pollinator Week is on its way! Celebrate the bees, bugs, bats, birds, and more that help pollinate our plants. National Pollinator Week is June 19-25. Explore the buzzing science below to find a way to contribute to pollinator science this month.  Find more projects and events on SciStarter, to do now or bookmark for later. […]

This April, The Crowd & The Cloud brings you a 4-part public television series exploring citizen science, crowdsourcing, and mobile technology. You’ll find the SciStarter Project Finder on The Crowd & The Cloud website to help viewers of the show become do-ers of science!  Below we’ve highlighted each episode and related projects to jump start […]

Count butterflies to find out about the state of nature. Interested in butterfly citizen science projects? We’ve got you covered! From next Saturday 19 July until Sunday 10 August 2014, the Big Butterfly Count will take place in the UK. This citizen science project is organized by Butterfly Conservation UK and can boast being the […]

Did you know that SciStarter has 14 projects that feature butterflies? This is a product of the growing citizen science brigade, but also the fact that butterflies offer an accessible and fun way for people of all ages to engage in citizen science. Butterflies themselves are not only beautiful to look at, but they serve […]

Next week is National Pollinator Week! Pollinators, like bees, birds, and butterflies, play an important role in all of our lives. They aid in flowering plant reproduction, help ensure the health of national forests and grasslands, and work together with famers and ranchers in the production of fruits and vegetables. National Pollinator Week is a yearly […]

Monarch butterflies need our help! The regal butterflies, hit hard by the torrential February rains in Mexico, are at their lowest population levels since 1975,  according to Chip Taylor, director of Monarch Watch at the University of Kansas. The storms killed 50 to 60 percent of the breeding colonies in northern Mexico; the butterfly population […]