A Monarch Grows in Maine

Casie Weaver '14 isn't your typical front office manager at the Midcoast Recreation Center. Beyond her daily duties, she's deeply involved in a special project – nurturing monarch butterflies.

It all started when Casie, who graduated from Colby-Sawyer with a bachelor’s degree in biology, stumbled upon a lone monarch caterpillar in the garden outside her office. She decided to bring the caterpillar in and raise it to a mature butterfly.

“I started out with a glass mason jar, gauze, and an ace bandage that had little holes in it for the caterpillars to breathe,” Casie said. “I brought milkweed in and watched the first caterpillar turn into a butterfly. I continued this for the rest of the summer and found more and more containers to house them and raise them in.”

That chance encounter ignited a passion that has evolved over four years, from raising caterpillars to butterflies to sharing this process with children and visitors and turning it into an educational experience.

Most recently, Casie has published a book, A Monarch Grows in Maine. The response has been overwhelming, with the first 100 copies sold within a week. With her background in biology, Casie found unexpected connections between her interest in insects and her time at Colby-Sawyer. Her capstone project, guided by advisors like Professors Ben Steele and Josh Steffan, instilled in her a love for research and documentation, skills she applied to create her book.

“Public speaking and the research I conducted during my capstone helped me get where I am today,” Casie said. “As an office manager I oversee a group of staff members, and I also go into schools to do presentations on my work with monarch butterflies. I capture photos along the way as I did in my capstone project!”

Looking ahead, Casie aims to expand her efforts in monarch conservation. Her vision involves creating an educational platform advocating for monarch butterflies' preservation and helping to get them off the endangered species list.

Casie embodies Maine's spirit of preservation and education. Through her work with monarchs, she inspires others to appreciate nature's delicate wonders and fosters a future where these tiny creatures flourish.