The WVU community is invited to attend the Nature Connection Series with talks at WVU Core Arboretum’s Woodland Amphitheater each Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Today’s speaker, Sue Olcott, retired lepidoptera and pollinator conservation project leader at the state Division of Natural Resources, will talk about preliminary results for the West Virginia Butterfly Atlas.
Natural history atlases are years-long efforts to answer the question of what species are here and where they are located. The WVDNR Wildlife Diversity Unit has completed several atlases since 2005 to help inform conservation efforts for a variety of species groups in West Virginia. Olcott will present the initial results of the West Virginia Butterfly Atlas that collected data from 2012-18.
Olcott, a certified wildlife biologist, served as a WV DNR biologist from 1995-2022 with the Wildlife Diversity Program. She earned a bachelor’s degree in wildlife management from the University of Maine and a master’s degree from Frostburg State University. Her past work includes surveying and monitoring for a variety of taxa like birds, dragonflies and damselflies, moths and butterflies, mammals and plants along with education work with school and civic groups and writing and providing technical assistance to citizens. Susan retired from the DNR in February, but most recently served as project leader for Pollinator and Monarch Conservation.
The 2022 WVU Core Arboretum Nature Connection Series is supported by the WVU Department of Biology, the WVU Core Arboretum Endowment and donations from the public. All speakers are volunteers. WVU's Core Arboretum is Morgantown’s place for nature connection.
Find more information on the Nature Connection Series.