This program will introduce you to North Carolina's wild butterflies, how to identify them, and how to become a citizen-scientist butterfly monitor. Because insect populations are declining at alarming rates, long-term monitoring of butterfly populations across the Carolinas will provide valuable data for scientists and land managers. The Carolinas Butterfly Monitoring Project aims to teach interested citizen scientists how to identify local butterflies and establish a fun, easy-to-conduct survey using standardized protocols where you can go for a walk and record the butterflies you see. Data are contributed to a national database for scientists to examine butterfly population trends across the continent.