19 Jun North Cascade Butterfly Project

Hey guys, so let me dive right in about my project since I totally forgot my laptop charger and am currently running on 10% power. I will be part of this long-term monitoring program where I will be monitoring butterfly abundances and plant phenology in subalpine meadows of the Cascades Mountains.

The goal of the project is to understand  the influence of climate change on high elevation ecosystems, document changes in species distribution and abundance, and, most importantly, communicate these impacts to the public. I still have not started the job because I am waiting for my partner to arrive, but we will be at different sites throughout the park catching and recording butterflies, which sounds like so much fun! But here are some cool flowers that I found while I was hiking the nearby trails.