Butterfly expert recognised with lifetime achievement award

Virginia based Professor Brower, who has spent over 50 years studying the monarch, has been honoured jointly by the Marsh Christian Trust and the Royal Entomological Society.

He was presented with the Marsh Award for Insect Conservation for his lifetime contribution to the field of entomology by Brian Marsh OBE, chairman of the Marsh Christian Trust.

Accepting his £1,000 award, Professor Brower said: “I am extremely pleased and enormously grateful for this wonderful honour. England has always held a special place in my heart, and to be selected for this award is indeed gratifying.”

Lincoln Brower began researching the monarch back in the 1950s, when he was studying for his doctorate at Yale University. He made headlines earlier this month with his claim that a Mexican government scheme to protect the forests where the butterflies spend the winter is failing.

The flight of millions of the distinctive orange and black butterflies migrating thousands of miles across North America to the mountains of Mexico is considered one of the great natural wonders of the world.

Illegal logging however, is destroying the monarch’s winter habitat high in the Mexican mountains, and Professor Brower this month warned that there are now up to hundreds of people involved in illegal logging operations.

Lincoln Brower is Distinguished Service Professor of Zoology, Emeritus at the University of Florida. In 1997, he was appointed Research Professor of Biology at Sweet Briar College, Virginia.

Presenting Professor Brower with his lifetime achievement award, chairman of the Marsh Christian Trust, Brian Marsh OBE said: “Professor Brower’s work to understand the biology and conservation needs of the monarch butterfly in particular is singularly impressive, not least because his dedication extends over the course of half a century.

“Both I and the Royal Entomological Society are indeed honoured to recognise Professor Brower and his work.”