The Monarch Butterfly Migration Its Rise and Fall
Advanced Praise
“A wonderful and important story—part memoir, part murder mystery, and full of the magnificent biology of nature’s monarch. Monika Maeckle deciphers complex scientific and social issues in an accessible, journalistic style that will be widely appreciated.”
—Anurag Agrawal, author of Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution
“A soaring triumph. Maeckle’s crisp prose, clear-eyed perspective, and forthright passion weave a powerful story about the relationships between humans and monarchs, with wide-reaching implications for all of us. I picked up this book and couldn’t put it down.”
—Juli Berwald, author of Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs
Plants with Purpose: Twenty-Five Ecosystem Multitaskers
Can you eat it? Make tea from it? Does it serve wildlife? Does it taste good or provide a health benefit? Is it low maintenance? Does it have a fun story? Does it provide a unique landscape service? Oh, and is it attractive?
These are the questions asked about each plant included in Plants with Purpose. To qualify, the plant had to answer YES to at least three besides beauty.
Beauty alone is no longer reason enough to choose a plant that will occupy valuable real estate in your landscape. We owe functional plants–plants that do more than look good–to the ecosystem.
About the Author
Monika Maeckle is a gardener, monarch tagger, recovering beekeeper, and curious student of nature who loves the whole life cycle. She’s based in San Antonio.
With a long career in media and marketing, Maeckle founded the Texas Butterfly Ranch website and San Antonio’s Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival. She and husband, Robert Rivard, founded San Antonio’s independent news site, the Rivard Report, which later rebranded as the nonprofit San Antonio Report. She continues to serve as a contributor to the site.
Maeckle raises butterflies and native plants in her Mariposario and urban garden as well as at her family’s Llano River ranch. She, her family and friends have tagged 10,000+ monarch butterflies over the years, more than 60 of which have been recovered from the forest floor in Mexico.
Maeckle worked closely with the National Wildlife Federation in 2015 to convince San Antonio to sign the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, resulting in the city’ status as the nation’s first Monarch Butterfly Champion City. In 2016, with lots of community help, she organized San Antonio’s Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival, which occur each October during peak monarch migration season, attracting thousands of visitors. Social impact media site Nationswell profiled the event in a 12-minute documentary and named it “Outstanding Solution of 2018.”
Maeckle also spearheaded a local pollinator habitat initiative, in an effort to create 300 pollinator habitats for San Antonio’s 300th birthday. After exceeding its 2018 goal, the initiative expanded beyond San Antonio, and now boasts 1,100+ registrants.
Her second book, Plants with Purpose, will be published March 11, 2025 by Texas A & M University Press.
About the Author
Monika Maeckle is a gardener, monarch tagger, recovering beekeeper, and curious student of nature who loves the whole life cycle. She’s based in San Antonio.
With a long career in media and marketing, Maeckle founded the Texas Butterfly Ranch website and San Antonio’s Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival. She and husband, Robert Rivard, founded San Antonio’s independent news site, the Rivard Report, which later rebranded as the nonprofit San Antonio Report. She continues to serve as a contributor to the site.
Maeckle raises butterflies and native plants in her Mariposario and urban garden as well as at her family’s Llano River ranch. She, her family and friends have tagged 10,000+ monarch butterflies over the years, more than 60 of which have been recovered from the forest floor in Mexico.
Maeckle worked closely with the National Wildlife Federation in 2015 to convince San Antonio to sign the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, resulting in the city’ status as the nation’s first Monarch Butterfly Champion City. In 2016, with lots of community help, she organized San Antonio’s Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival. which unfolds each October during peak monarch migration season and attracts thousands of visitors. Social impact media site Nationswell profiled the event in a 12-minute documentary and named it “Outstanding Solution of 2018.”
Maeckle also spearheaded a local pollinator habitat initiative, in an effort to create 300 pollinator habitats for San Antonio’s 300th birthday. After exceeding its 2018 goal, the initiative expanded beyond San Antonio, and currently boasts 1,100+ registrants.
Her second book, Plants with Purpose: Twenty-five Ecosystem Multitaskers, will be published March 11, 2025 by Texas A & M University Press.
