Meet the scientist who's been counting California butterflies for 47 years and has no plans to stop

“It’s completely incomprehensible, the whole thing,” says Matt Forister, an ecologist who studied with Shapiro before starting his own lab at the University of Nevada in Reno. “Nobody visits 10 sites every two weeks for that long. It is unheard of in the history of science.”

Butterflies are not the only insects that go through a dramatic metamorphosis, but they may be the most well-studied. Shapiro sees his life as a series of lucky accidents. He was recruited to join the faculty of UC Davis in 1971 by a biologist who was chatting up his wife at a cocktail party.Before moving to Davis, the couple lived in Staten Island, where Shapiro taught ecology at the City University of New York. He had been to California only one time before,Once he arrived he immersed himself in California ecology. He traveled widely, studied geological maps and statistical abstracts of climate.

While hunting for butterflies in a site overlooking the infamous Donner Pass, he directs his ride to pull into the parking lot of the Donner Summit Historical Society Museum.“I was just telling someone I hadn’t seen the good professor yet this year,” he says. “How are you doing?”In the last 47 years, Shapiro has gotten to know many of the locals at his butterfly study sites, thanks to his frequent trips and affinity for cold beers in dark bars.

But in 1999, 27 years after Shapiro started monitoring his sites, something strange happened: the populations of 17 species of butterflies at his low-elevation sites tumbled all at once. Shapiro says 2018 was the worst butterfly season he ever experienced. The number of species across all elevations was down, something he had never seen before.

What a complete waste of resources

He looks exactly like how I imagined a guy who counts butterflies would look.

'1 billion and one...' 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

He needs a hair cut and shave. Looks like a homeless person

He totally looks like someone who’s spent 47 years counting butterflies.

Also known as the crazy guy who sleeps at the train station....

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