Join us in person in Community House room 204 at 1:00 pm. To join by Zoom, CLICK HERE. You are also welcome to attend Sandy Spring Friends Meeting’s simple potluck lunch from 12:00-1:00 pm. All are welcome.

Butterfly Symposium

Climate change is impacting butterfly dynamics throughout the world and this is also true of the iconic migratory monarch butterfly. Using decades of research, most often based on community (or "citizen") science, Prof. Leslie Ries of Georgetown University will share the story of what we know about the monarch, how we know it, and what we still need to learn.

The monarch is particularly important because it is currently under consideration for formal listing under the Endangered Species Act, having been found worthy of protection (but not given it) back in 2020. The implications of this listing would be enormous as the monarch, although declining for the past 50 years, is one of the most widespread, common butterflies in North America. So what will happen when there is a federally threatened species in backyards everywhere? 

Leslie is a native Washingtonian who has lived in suburban MD for most of her life. She is an associate professor at Georgetown University where she studies the impact of global change on butterflies with a particular focus on three species (the Baltimore checkerspot, the silver-spotted skipper, and the monarch butterfly), using lab, field and modeling approaches. Leslie works closely with a network of community scientists throughout North America to support their monitoring networks and make sure the data are available to the scientific and general community. She is married to Sandy Spring Friends Meeting attendee Tony Vernon.