Monarch Joint Venture Blog
Celebrating 2024’s Remote Sensing Program Milestones and Next Steps
While we close out the 2024 remote sensing field season, we reflect on the opportunities that have allowed our innovative program to grow. 2024 marks the second year that MJV has applied remote sensing across a large regional landscape, surveying over 5,000 acres across Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. This year, we made significant progress toward building a cohesive, shareable, and mappable database of monarch habitat that also improves the capabilities of the conservation community to accurately monitor and evaluate pollinator habitat. Read More
Unveiling the Latest in Monarch Conservation Research: A Recap of MJV’s 2023 Annual Research Review
Since 2020, the Monarch Joint Venture (MJV) has been diligently organizing annual research reviews to ensure that partner organizations, networks, and enthusiasts remain informed about the most recent findings in monarch conservation. These reviews serve as a platform for summarizing and discussing peer-reviewed research, commentaries, and technical reports related to monarch conservation efforts. Read More
Eastern Monarch Butterfly Population Falls to Less than One Hectare in the 2023-2024 Overwintering Season
Monarch butterflies occupied 0.9 hectares, 1.31 less than the 2.21 hectares in the 2022-2023 overwintering season. This is the first time since the 2013-2014 overwintering season that the eastern monarch population has occupied less than one hectare. Read More
Reflecting on a Season as a Drone Technician: Navigating Challenges, Embracing Growth, and Building Memories
2023 was the MJV’s first year deploying drone technicians to survey common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). Our talented drone technicians, Josiah Velner and Luis Osorio, excelled through all the beta-testing and unforeseen challenges. In this blog post, Luis and Josiah share a glimpse into their first field season through their experiences as Conservation Corp of Minnesota and Iowa members with the MJV. Read More
Mapping Milkweed for Monarchs: Using Innovative Technology to Support Biodiversity Conservation
The POLLi software platform equips conservation organizations with a novel tool to streamline data collection using drones, AI, and cloud computing. Read More