The Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) is hosting a free Zoom webinar on Wednesday, April 28 at 4:00 p.m. with author and cyclist Sara Dykman about her journey cycling alongside the monarch butterfly migration from Mexico to Canada, and back. In 2017, Sara Dykman became the first person to follow the migration of the eastern monarch butterflies over 10,000 miles, by bicycle, educating communities along the way about the urgent conservation needs of the monarch butterfly, whose populations have dramatically declined. Register for this free webinar at moprairie.org. Registrants will receive a link to a recording of the webinar.
Dive deeper into Dykman’s adventures by reading her new book, Bicycling with Butterflies, releasing on April 13 from Timber Press. Dykman describes the book as “part science, part adventure, part love letter to nature.” Order from the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s online shop at store.moprairie.org by April 28 to receive an autographed bookplate. Proceeds benefit MPF’s mission.
Dr. Chip Taylor, the Founder and Director of Monarch Watch, was a resource and mentor for Dykman as she planned her trip. “She made a connection with and commitment to monarchs and herself,” said Taylor. “Through her narrative, told with a writer’s eye for detail and a biologist’s sensitivity to the fragile nature of the systems that support wildlife and humans, she helps us see how everything is connected. Sara also exposes the readers to some of the patterns in our society that are in conflict with the greater good, and she will connect many with monarchs for the first time. Her narrative is an important wake-up call for the need to stay connected to nature.”
“You don’t have to quit your job and bike thousands of miles to help the monarchs,” explained Dykman. “You can plant milkweed, plant native nectar plants, and be a voice for the monarch. That’s what my trip, and my book, are all about.”
The caterpillars of monarch butterflies eat only milkweeds. Without milkweed plants, we would have no monarchs. You can help sustain monarch butterflies by planting milkweeds, as well as native plants that provide nectar for adult monarchs and other butterflies. Learn more about growing native plants for monarchs on MPF’s Grow Native! website at https://grownative.org/learn/natives-for-monarchs/. Monarch and milkweed fact sheets available in English and in Spanish.
Photo: Sara Dykman