Western Monarch and Pollinator Spring Migration Celebration

The Monarch butterfly is vulnerable. There were an estimated one billion North American Monarchs twenty years ago. Today there are about 33 million. But their decline is only part of this compelling story. The Western Monarch—our Monarch butterfly—has seen a much greater population decline; yet dedicated study on their dwindling numbers only began in 2012.

Why is this significant? Because their story is an indicator of total pollinator decline which means our entire food chain is in peril. Fortunately, citizen scientists are making a meaningful difference in helping experts understand the underlying problems. The key to developing a citizen scientist network is education. Students can and are becoming engaged citizen scientists. The study of pollinators like the Monarch butterfly can get kids excited about learning.

We’ve seen this at Sisters Middle School and we want to share our success with you. That’s why we urge you to attend our free Western Monarch and Pollinator Spring Migration Celebration on May 5, 2018. See below.

9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates is hosting a pre-conference round-table discussion where everyone may share their stories of success in helping Monarchs and pollinators in their area.

1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Main Conference includes the following program:

• Keynote speaker: Entomologist Dr. David James of Washington State University, founder of the Western Monarch tagging and tracking program will bring us all up to date.
• Featured speaker: Robert Coffan, of Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates is part of a team that is currently performing the largest single monarch habitat restoration project in the western United States! As SOMA co-founder, Robert will share just why and how they are doing it.
• Special guest and MC: Sisters Middle School Special Education teacher Susie Werts, used Monarch butter-flies to enhance student reading and writing skills while rearing monarch caterpillars and releasing tagged Mon-arch butterflies. Teacher Werts some of what she has learned.
• Featured video: Journey’s Flight, The Video Storybook, produced by Angela Street. Angela captured the essence of the book Journey’s Flight, written by Sisters Middle School students into a delightful short video with music and student art.