NBII Acting in Cupid’s Service

The NBII is typically presented as a broad, collaborative program to provide increased access to data and information on the nation’s biological resources. We often add that resource managers, scientists, educators, and the general public use the NBII to answer a wide range of questions related to the management, use, or conservation of this nation’s biological resources.

True enough. But when we talk about the general public using the NBII, occasionally the motivation has more to do with biological drives than biological resources (which is maybe not so surprising since without bio­logical drives there wouldn’t be any biological resources).

That said, consider two perspec­tives on the topic of butterflies, one of many NBII specialties:

• The first is from our NBII Pollina­tors Web site, which features a focus on North American butterflies and moths, members of the order Lepidoptera.

• The second is from country music legend and poet Dolly Parton, who wrote: “Love is like a butterfly, as soft and gentle as a sigh, the multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings.”

So where’s the connection? Actu­ally, it was brought to our attention by an alert aunt and wedding planner who was cruising our butterflies and moths site not so long ago and recalled to us that she wanted to have a butterfly-themed wedding for her niece. She and her niece were planning the details and scouring the net for resources that would ensure this theme was (I) do-able. It seems they needed reliable information on a wide variety of but­terfly species, and the NBII site was among the most engaging they visited.

“Thanks for the [butterfly] re­sources you provided,” our supportive inquirer said. “They have really helped my niece out.”

Elizabeth Sellers, Manager of the NBII Pollinators Project, thanked the writer for her kind words and added that our site was just another example of the NBII’s longstanding theme of Building Knowledge Through Partner­ships: “Our Butterflies and Moths Web page was produced through our part­nership with the Ecological Society of America (ESA) and with input from members of the North American Pollinator Protection Cam­paign .”

Disclosures aside, while resource managers turn to our site most often seeking resources to help build and maintain healthy ecosystems, some­times we can also provide valuable assistance to those more attuned to building healthy, long-term relation­ships. In any event, we’re glad to be of service to all — including Cupid!