Monarch Butterfly Workshop

Join experts from the Monarch Joint Venture in this class to learn everything you need to know about the best ways to help monarch butterflies and other pollinators. This class will begin with an overview of the monarch butterfly life cycle, including their habitat needs and migration, and then cover the status of their population and the different factors that affect them. We’ll end the class with learning about different actions you can take at home and in your community to help monarchs, from planting habitat to helping scientists learn more about them! After a hands-on learning session for how to clean milkweed seeds by hand, each participant will go home with their own seeds and instructions for how to plant them. Welcome to the monarch conservation community!

In this class you will: 

• Learn about monarch butterfly biology and ecology.
• Master the art of origami seed packets.
• Get hands on experience sorting milkweed seed by hand.
• Come away with actions you can take to help monarchs and other pollinators.

Supplies: Please bring a coin to use during one of our activities - quarters work great (you will keep the coin). Participants will be provided with all other materials, including additional resources on planting and growing milkweed, conservation issues for monarchs and other pollinators, and creating pollinator habitat.

Instructor: 

As a leader in monarch conservation, the Monarch Joint Venture supports monarch conservation planning and Katie-Lyn Puffer coordinates MJV’s education and outreach programs, which include professional development programs for teachers and educators, local programming, and public courses both virtual and in-person. She also works to connect partners and the public to the resources they need for monarch conservation and education. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Environmental Sciences Policy and Management. Previous to MJV, Katie-Lyn worked as an informal educator at museums, zoos, nature centers and park systems where she led and coordinated summer camps, field trips, and outdoor education programs for all ages. Most recently she held the position of Education Program Coordinator for the former Monarch Lab, from which many of MJV’s education programs stem.