with Dr. David James

Over the past eight years we have learned a great deal about monarchs in the Pacific Northwest, particularly details of their migration.  The WSU-PNW Monarch tagging Program has resulted in the tagging of 29,143 butterflies since 2012, the majority of which were reared by citizen scientists in Washington, Idaho and Oregon as well as inmates at the Washington State Penitentiary.  This presentation will provide details of the outcomes from this work and the current status of our knowledge of this remarkable and iconic insect in the western US.  Information on the ongoing decline of monarch populations in the west and conservation strategies to combat it, will also be presented.

Dr. David G. James PhD, is a Washington State University entomologist with more than 40 years experience with monarchs in Australia and the United States. He has published 25 scientific papers on monarch biology, which was also the subject of his PhD thesis. He is currently conducting an extensive research program on monarchs in the Pacific Northwest including a program with Washington State Penitentiary involving inmate rearing of monarchs for migration research.