The Ries Lab of Butterfly InformaticsThis article gives an overview of the work that I've (Leslie) been doing with the North American Butterfly Association for the last 20 years. It chronicles the digitization of those counts that started in 1977 and all the research that has...
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July 11, 2025: Article in American Butterflies highlights all the research from NABA counts
July 11, 2025: State of the Butterflies in the US published by the Xerces Society
Link to report: State of the Butterflies in the US
A study published in March 2025 showed that we are losing butterflies at a rate of 1.3% per year in the contiguous US: more than one-fifth of our butterflies disappeared between 2000 and...
May 15, 2025: ChatGPT creates new biography for Leslie!
The truth is I never use ChaptGPT - but as I am about to teach my first course since 2023 (right after ChatGPT launched) - I figured I better get a sense of what I may be up against. So this was my first ask - and YIKES - the results were scarily...
Read moreMay 14, 2025: First checkerspot of the season
Say hello to Anngely's first adult checkerspot of her first big field and lab season. Congrats Anngely (and all the helpers) for this big milestone!
May 14, 2025: Vaughn wins prestiguous Glassman Award!!!
Dr. Shirey is the joint recipient, with Dr. David Saxon, of the 2025 Harold N. Glassman Distinguished Dissertation Award in the Sciences. YOU ROCK VAUGHN!!
April 07, 2025: Ries lab stands up for science!
Elise, Leslie and Anngely all made it to the Stand up for Science rally on the mall on March 7th!
March 06, 2025: Groundbreaking study
PUBLISHED: STATE OF USA BUTTERFLIES
Today, Science published major results of our work with the USGS Powell Center “Status of Butterflies in the United States” working group, which found dramatic declines in many...
January 24, 2025: Insect Decline RCN
This week, lab members are participating in the Status of Insects RCN annual virtual meeting, hearing from researchers around the world. Grace is presenting a poster on local adaptation across...
Read moreNovember 22, 2024: First in-person winter workshop for the adaptopod collaborative
Our collaborative group focused on how insects adapt to climate change had our first winter workshop in person (instead of zoom) in Phoenix as part of the 2024 Entomological Society meeting. Our group discussed our research project to date and...
Read moreOctober 01, 2024: Leslie participates in panel on pesticides and pollinators at NY Climate Week
Leslie traveled to NY Climate Week to participate in this panel on pesticides and pollinators (our...
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