Ken Philip donated the largest private collection of Beringian butterflies and moths to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in 2014 by way of the UA Museum of the North, where the collection was cataloged. In 2017-2019, I designed a website to house an online repository of key components of the collection as part of the UAF Chancellor’s Innovation in Teaching and E-Learning Fellowship collaboration with Dr. Derek Sikes, Curator of Insects / Professor of Entomology at UA Museum of the North (UAMN).
There are at least 43 families of the order of Lepidoptera that occur here in the Far North. As average temperatures rise across the Arctic and flowering plant species move northward, researchers also see a northward shift in some butterfly species worldwide and in the Arctic. Individual species of butterflies rely heavily on specific flowers to obtain nectar. So their populations must follow the flowers and trees they rely on. If climate change or development affects butterfly habitat extensively researchers see a drastic decrease in population. We are seeing this decline dramatically with the Western Monarch, which has decreased from 1.2 million in 1997 to just 30,000 today.
The nature of life is ephemeral; our short seasons on Earth are just a blip in time. All of us Earth Creatures are here, but for a moment, the variety and complexity of life we are surrounded by is astounding. We are so lucky to be here in this moment. The short summer seasons in the Arctic highlight the intensity of life, as the season is short but productive. It is a time when the natural world explodes with color and activity and is also an area where the climate changes the fastest.
Step 1: The Collection
Examining the collection drawers and their individuals is possible using the website lens feature. I spent many hours looking at these in person and through these images, reading about them in the Alaska Butterfly Field Guide, and discussing them with Dr. Sikes at UAMN.
Step 2. Looking Closer
I took GEOS 428 Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the spring of 2017 and looked at some of these butterflies in incredible detail during the semester. The presentation below includes a selection of the images I captured.
Step 3. The Lightness of Being
The Lightness of Being exhibition took place at the UA Museum of the North Cafe Gallery in May-September 2019. The paintings are 24″ round multimedia works that echo the forms and feeling of the worlds seen through the SEM imagery of the Beringian Lepidoptera specimens.
