Published on December 10, 2010  

This year’s Fall 2010 Homecoming guest lecture was given by Professor Emeritus, Dr. W. Mike Howell, of the department of biological and environmental sciences at Samford University. In his talk, Dr. Howell spoke about his recent book, Butterflies of Alabama.

"I wrote the book, along with co-author Vitaly Charny, over nine years of field studies, data collecting, photography, and writing,” says Howell. “I have been fascinated by butterflies since my youth, so writing this book gave me the chance to really learn about them in depth. Further, Alabama has been called the "Amazon of the South" in that we nearly 150 butterfly species documented for our state, and this is an amazing number compared to most other states. Therefore, Mr. Charny and I wanted to make the citizens of our state aware of, and appreciative of, our tremendous biodiversity of butterflies."

The lecture took place on Friday Nov 5th, 2010 . “The Homecoming talk, Butterflies of Alabama, was well-attended (about 80-90 attendees) with several alumni in the audience” says Howell. "The group was attentive and asked numerous questions following the lecture."

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.