STREAMING PROGRAM INFORMATION

• This program is part of our Smithsonian Associates Streaming series.
• Platform: Zoom
• Online registration is required.
• For multiple registrations, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses.

Both fragile and enduring, butterflies have induced a mania for hoarding and collecting in some, and fantastical travels in others. We plant gardens to attract them, build habitats to guide their migrations, and study their intricate systems to help us design next-generation medical devices. But their most critical role yet may be as messengers for climate change and what we must do to uplift our planet’s future.

Science journalist Wendy Williams takes a look at the scientists, gardeners, naturalists and citizen scientists who have joined together to successfully decipher the secrets of butterflies in order to protect them. She shares surprising details like the unexpectedly intricate shapes of butterflies’ unique wing scales, the microscopic details of the butterfly proboscis, and even the biological tools that allow monarch butterflies to migrate south each fall.

Williams explores the factors behind declining butterfly populations, from habitat destruction to climate change, and charts the deepening bond we have with these insects and their importance to our own survival in her new book, The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists, and Other Obsessives Unlocked the Secrets of the World’s Favorite Insect (Simon & Schuster), which is available for sale.

Book Sale Information

• Purchase your copy of The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists, and Other Obsessives Unlocked the Secrets of the World’s Favorite Insect by Wendy Williams here.
• SPECIAL NOTE: Politics and Prose is offering a 10% discount to Smithsonian Associates ticket-holders. To claim your discount, enter the code SPECIAL10 in the “Coupon discount” section of Politics and Prose's check-out page.

Patron Information

• Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
• Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
• View Common FAQs about our Streaming Programs on Zoom.

This event is presented as part of the Smithsonian Earth Optimism Initiative.

Note: The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Smithsonian Institution.