Who鈥檚 Counting: Estimating Monarch Colony Size

Increasing the public鈥檚 STEM knowledge at Pismo State Beach Park, California.

Lead Staff:

Martha Merson

Summary

Monarch butterflies have dwindled in numbers (a decline of over 90%) over the past quarter聽century. There is a broad international effort to understand why and how聽to reverse the trend.

Counting Butterflies was an iSWOOP workshop focused on monarch butterflies that overwinter in California and in Michoac谩n, Mexico. Following the iSWOOP model, volunteer docents at the overwintering grounds at Pismo State Beach Park in California were briefed on the science and asked to talk about it with visitors.

The goal was to increase the public’s STEM knowledge and appreciation for collaborations between scientists and government resource managers that work to preserve a threatened species.