September has been a busy month, full of Monarch magic all across Missouri as the Monarch butterfly migration has been underway. Here at Missouri Conservation Corps, Naturalist Laura Semken leads educational programs in Columbia and Boonville to teach curious minds about the importance, mystery, and magic of Monarch butterflies and how everyone can support Monarch populations and migration. These charismatic butterflies are a subject of interest to many others around the state and around the country, as well, and the Columbia Missourian highlights this in a publication spanning events conducted with us and with the Missouri Department of Conservation.
On Monday, September 28th, student journalists for the Columbia Missourian Elsa Connolly and Kinleigh Alnutt joined us at Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary for the last installment of our yearly Monarch Journey series. There, they recorded the many ways people chose to interact with Monarch butterflies: practicing tagging butterflies, picking up literature on recommended native plants to add to home gardens, and sharing the magic of metamorphosis for the first time with children.
