Harlow Seminar - July 3, 2025, Dr. Elise Zipkin

Date: July 3, 2025
Speaker: Dr. Elise Zipkin, Program Director of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
Red Cedar Distinguished Professor, Department of Integrative Biology
Michigan State University

Title
Why are butterflies declining? A look at monarchs and the insect apocalypse

Abstract
Numerous declines have been documented across insect groups, and the potential consequences of insect losses are dire. Butterflies are the most surveyed insect taxa, yet analyses have been limited in geographic scale or rely on data from a single monitoring program. Using records of 12.6 million individual butterflies from greater than 76,000 surveys across 35 monitoring programs, our team characterized overall and species-specific butterfly abundance trends across the contiguous United States. Between 2000 and 2020, total butterfly abundance fell by 22% across the 554 recorded species. Species-level declines were widespread, with thirteen times as many species declining as increasing. This talk will discuss butterfly trends across the continental U.S. and dive into more specific trends of monarch butterflies, including possible drivers of decline. The prevalence of declines throughout the U.S. highlights an urgent need to protect butterflies from further losses.

Bio
As a quantitative ecologist, Dr. Elise Zipkin connects the complexities of natural communities with the precision of mathematics to shine light on mysteries in ecology and conservation. Elise and her team develop analytical frameworks to address grand challenges in the study of biodiversity loss and the effects of anthropogenic activities, such as climate change. She harnesses empirical data (big and small) to understand fine and subtle interactions in the natural world, revealing the causes and consequences of species’ declines and biodiversity loss while charting pathways to mitigate and reverse these alarming trends.

Elise has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and delivered more than 50 invited talks nationally and internationally. Among her honors is being named a Fulbright U.S. Senior Scholar, an International Ecology Institute (ECI) IPRE Laureate, and an Ecological Society of America Early Career Fellow. Elise regularly works with management agencies to translate the results of her research for conservation. She is committed to open, accessible, and reproducible science and to supporting and mentoring the next generation of scientists, natural resource managers, policy makers, and scientific communicators.