Every year, the Xerces Society gives out at least two DeWind Awards to students pursuing research into Lepidoptera conservation. Established by Bill DeWind in honor of his wife Joan, the DeWind Awards help support the next wave of butterfly and moth conservationists. This year, we are excited to announce the winners of two $10,000 awards: John Dreitsch and Holly Myers!
Investigating light pollution and moth behavior across habitats
John Dreitsch is a Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at El Paso in Bret Seymore’s lab, where he will be studying the impacts of light pollution on moths. Moths are well known to be attracted to lights, including artificial lights at night. John will investigate how “flight to light” responses in moths are affected by variation in habitats and light pollution level. For example, it is possible that moths are more strongly influenced by light in open habitats compared to forested areas.
Working in the Indio Mountains Research Station and the Knapp Land Preserve in west Texas, John will use a “capture-mark-recapture” style survey in different environments to measure how attracted the moths are to artificial lights. What he discovers may help land managers decide when and how to keep artificial light pollution from degrading important moth habitats, similar to how lights are turned off to protect sea turtle populations.
Exploring how livestock antibiotics impact rangeland pollinators
Holly Myers is a Ph.D. student at the University of Kentucky in Nathan Haan’s lab, where she will be studying the effects of livestock parasiticides on butterflies. Some types of antibiotics kill a wide variety of internal and external invertebrate parasites found in cows, sheep, and other animals. Unfortunately, these animals can excrete the excess pesticides in their dung across public and private rangelands. Prior research has shown these chemicals reduce the survival and reproduction of dung beetles, who provide valuable nutrient cycling functions in grassland ecosystems. The chemicals have also shown up in pollen after being absorbed by plants and in bee hives near livestock operations.
Holly will investigate if these antibiotics are found in plant nectar near livestock operations, possibly exposing adult moths and butterflies to these chemicals. She will also investigate if caterpillars that consume plants exposed to these chemicals experience any negative effects to their growth and survival. What she discovers can be used by ranchers and land managers concerned with the effects of pesticides on pollinators.
Learn more about the DeWind Awards
- Discover all of the research being done by previous DeWind Award winners
- Interesting in applying for the next round of DeWind Awards? Applications for the 2026 awards will open in November 2025. See our DeWind Award FAQ to learn more.
As a conservation biologist for the endangered species program, Kevin’s efforts with the Xerces Society focus on protecting the hundreds of butterfly species that inhabit deserts, forests, and grasslands across the western United States. Many of these species are currently in decline or are threatened by habitat loss, insecticides, and the effects of climate change.
