Schappert, Phil 1956-

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SCHAPPERT, Phil 1956-

(Phillip Joseph Schappert)

PERSONAL: Born 1956; married; wife's name Pat. Education: Trent University, B.Sc.; York University, Toronto, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Office—Section of Integrative Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1064. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: University of Texas at Austin, professor of biology.

MEMBER: North American Butterfly Association, Lepidopterists' Society, Passiflora Society International.

AWARDS, HONORS: Harry K. Clench Memorial Award, Lepidopterists' Society, 1996.

WRITINGS:

A World for Butterflies: Their Lives, Behavior, and Future, Firefly Books (Buffalo, NY), 2000.

The Last Monarch Butterfly: Conserving the Monarch Butterfly in a Brave New World, Firefly Books (Buffalo, NY), 2004.

Contributor to journals, including Natural History, Seasons, and Ecoscience. Editor, News of the Lepidopterists' Society and Passiflora.

SIDELIGHTS: A lepidopterist with a specialty in the interactions between plants and butterflies, Phil Schappert is also the author of important studies on these unusually colorful and popular insects. A World for Butterflies: Their Lives, Behavior, and Future is Schappert's plea for understanding and protecting butterflies. Chapters cover the anatomy of butterflies and their distinct differences from moths, the different classifications that go back centuries, and their remarkable diversity and ability to thrive in different climates throughout the world. In addition, he describes the interplay of butterflies with their environment and the conservation measures needed to preserve those environments. As Nancy Bent pointed out in Booklist, butterflies' "large size and brilliant colors make them obvious to even casual observers." It is equally easy to take them for granted and to assume that they will always be with us, however, and Schappert warnings that this assumption may not be accurate. The Last Monarch Butterfly: Conserving the Monarch Butterfly in a Brave New World takes the example of a specific species, much beloved by experts and ordinary people alike, that may have a surprisingly bleak future. In following monarchs from their winter roosts in Mexico and southern California to their summer homes up north, Schappert notes the many challenges they face along the way, as well as threats at every stage of their lives. Some of these challenges, such as the logging of Mexico's highland forests, may prove disastrous if conservation steps are not taken.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 2000, Nancy Bent, review of A World for Butterflies: Their Lives, Behavior, and Future, p. 2090; December 1, 2000, Donna Seaman, review of A World for Butterflies, p. 686; December 15, 2004, Nancy Bent, review of The Last Monarch Butterfly: Conserving the Monarch Butterfly in a Brave New World, p. 697.

Discover, November, 2000, Eric Powell, review of A World for Butterflies, p. 105.