Get some CE from VMN State Program Coordinator Michelle Prysby

Virginia Master Naturalist Program Director Michelle Prysby presented the webinar Monarch Butterflies: Biology, Ecology & Conservation hosted by Wild Virginia on the evening of April 19th. You can find a recording of the webinar linked HERE.

This informative hour and a half-long program has been approved for HMN Continuing Education credit.

Michelle educates on the lifecycle of Monarchs, speaks on their conservation concerns, and discusses ways that we can help Monarch Butterflies and other pollinators.

Locating authoritative information on Monarchs is one important take away from the webinar. Michelle noted that there are many misconceptions about these fascinating creatures. For example, they don’t liquify and reform within the chrysalis as many people believe; and collecting Monarch Caterpillars to raise and release is not considered a valid activity for aiding species conservation. Michelle recommends Monarch Joint Venture as a source for current and accurate information.

Another focus of the webinar is citizen science. Michelle speaks on ways citizen scientists have helped Monarchs in the past and continue their efforts.

She highlighted five good citizen science projects working with Monarchs in Virginia. They are:  

• Journey North (Easiest)- https://journeynorth.org/monarchs  
• Monarch Watch (Tagging)- https://monarchwatch.org/tagging/
• Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (Site monitoring, Michelle started this project!) https://monarchjointventure.org/mlmp
• Project Monarch Health (Sampling)- https://www.monarchparasites.org/
• Integrated Monarch Monitoring Project https://monarchjointventure.org/mjvprograms/science/immp

– Stephanie Gardner