Wendy’s journey into entomology began with outdoor adventures alongside her dad—hunting, fishing, and exploring nature. That foundation deepened during a unique high school program located inside a zoo. That experience sparked a growing interest in insects, which she carried through undergraduate into graduate school at Michigan State University to a quantitative ecology lab rich with butterfly data. In this episode, she explores how volunteers—many trained through grassroots efforts—have contributed tens of thousands of hours to monitoring butterfly species, helping build one of the most comprehensive insect datasets in the country. The conversation touches on population trends, habitat needs, and the role of land use in shaping insect communities.

Episode Hosts/Speakers:

Margaret Pickoff, Penn State Extension (host)

Tom Butzler, Penn State Extension (host)

Tim Abbey, Penn State Extension (host)

Wendy Leuenberger, graduate student at Michigan State University’s Zipkin Quantitative Ecology Lab

Photo caption – butterfly on Aesculus parviflora (bottlebrush buckeye), photo Tom Butzler

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