<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Cheers, Liz<br>
<br>
Elizabeth Sellers<br>
<br>
Biological Informatics Program, Core Science Systems<br>
United States Geological Survey<br>
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Mail Stop 302<br>
Reston, VA 20192 USA<br>
Ph 703.648.4385 | Fax 703.648.4224 | esellers@usgs.gov</font>
<br><font size=1 color=#800080 face="sans-serif">----- Forwarded by Elizabeth
A Sellers/BRD/USGS/DOI on 03/08/2011 04:49 PM -----</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><br>
This release can be found in the USGS Newsroom at: </font><a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2717"><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2717</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">.</font><font size=3>
</font>
<p>
<table width=100%>
<tr valign=top>
<td width=100%><a href=http://www.usgs.gov/><img src=cid:_1_092F4528092F3F94007803848525784D alt="USGS main page"></a><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><b><br>
News Release</b></font><font size=3> <br>
</font>
<hr>
<tr valign=top>
<td>
<br>
<table width=100%>
<tr valign=top>
<td width=24%><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">March 4, 2011 </font>
<td width=75%>
<br>
<table width=100%>
<tr>
<td width=24%><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Kelly Lotts </font>
<td width=32%><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">360-305-8822 </font>
<td width=43%><a href=mailto:lotts@montana.edu><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>lotts@montana.edu</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font>
<tr>
<td><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Jen Carlino </font>
<td><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">303-202-4260 </font>
<td><a href=mailto:jcarlino@usgs.gov><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>jcarlino@usgs.gov</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font>
<tr>
<td><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Ron Sepic </font>
<td><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">703-648-4218 </font>
<td><a href=mailto:ron_sepic@usgs.gov><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>ron_sepic@usgs.gov</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font></table>
<br></table>
<br></table>
<br><font size=3><br>
<br>
</font>
<hr><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><b><br>
Internet Catches Updated Butterfly and Moth Website</b></font><font size=3>
</font>
<p><a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=oc_web&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usgs.gov%2Fnewsroom%2Farticle.asp%3FID%3D2717&title=" target=_blank><img src=cid:_1_09603C0C096036FC007803848525784D alt="Bookmark and Share"></a>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Why should we care about butterflies
and moths?<b> </b>Thanks to butterflies, bees, birds, and other animal
pollinators, the world's flowering plants are able to reproduce and bear
fruit. That very basic capability is at the root of many of the foods we
eat. And, not least, pollination adds to the beauty we see around us.</font><font size=3>
</font>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Yet today, there is evidence of
alarming pollinator population declines worldwide. Fortunately, science
investigators of this crucial issue can use data collected and organized
in the </font><a href=http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>Butterflies
and Moths of North America</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
(BAMONA) database to monitor the health of our butterfly and moth population.</font><font size=3>
</font>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Backed by more than 287,000 verified
sighting records and 3,239 images that describe 4,638 species, BAMONA is
committed to collecting and providing access to quality-controlled data
about butterflies and moths of North America. Dedicated volunteer coordinators,
including national and internationally recognized Lepidoptera experts,
verify each record. The goal is to fill the needs of scientists and nature
observers by bringing verified occurrence and life history data into one
accessible location.</font><font size=3> </font>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">To serve its broad range of users
even better, BAMONA recently launched its re-tooled </font><a href=http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>website</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">.
The site was developed at Montana State University (MSU) under a cooperative
agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey (</font><a href=http://www.usgs.gov/><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>USGS</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">)
National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Network.</font><font size=3>
</font>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">BAMONA’s latest innovations are
aimed at improving technologies for both data collection and data dissemination.
Users can now submit records – which typically include a photograph –
via the site’s new user submission form, replacing an outdated submission
process that required multiple e-mails with spreadsheet attachments. As
for data dissemination, verified records are now immediately available
on the site’s home page. New, interactive Google-based maps enable the
display of any verified sighting, including Canadian locations. Visitors
can now zoom in or out and click on dots pin-pointing sighting locations
on interactive maps, and see the details of each sighting record. All these
features were not available previously.</font><font size=3> </font>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">For more information, go to </font><a href=http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>www.butterfliesandmoths.org</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">.</font><font size=3>
</font>
<p>
<hr>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">USGS provides science for a changing
world. Visit </font><a href=http://usgs.gov/><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>USGS.gov</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">,
and follow us on Twitter </font><a href=http://twitter.com/usgs><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>@USGS</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
and our other </font><a href=http://usgs.gov/socialmedia><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>social
media channels</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">.<br>
Subscribe to our news releases via </font><a href=http://usgs.gov/newsroom/list_server.asp><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>e-mail</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">,
</font><a href=http://feeds.feedburner.com/UsgsNewsroom><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>RSS</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
or </font><a href=http://twitter.com/usgsnews><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>Twitter</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">.</font><font size=3>
</font>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">Links and contacts within this release
are valid at the time of publication.</font><font size=3> </font>
<div align=center>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">###</font></div>
<p><a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=oc_web&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usgs.gov%2Fnewsroom%2Farticle.asp%3FID%3D2717&title=" target=_blank><img src=cid:_1_078F0540078F0260007803848525784D alt="Bookmark and Share"></a>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font><font size=3> </font>
<p>