The Urban Butterfly Initiative

Dr. Paul Switzer, a Professor of Biology at Eastern Illinois University, will talk on “The Urban Butterfly Initiative.” Getting people to notice, understand, and value nature is a key challenge in today’s ever more urban and technological world. In his presentation, Dr. Switzer will explain the genesis of the Urban Butterfly Initiative (UBI), a community service nonprofit he founded in 2018 that uses butterflies as the hook for broader conservation, environmental education, and community building goals across cities and towns in central Illinois. UBI is collaborating with the Town of Normal to establish butterfly habitat at the Hidden Creek Nature Sanctuary.