Meet the Author events slated for new Butterflies and Moths field guide

The Great Smoky Mountains Association will offer three meet-the-author events in the coming weeks to celebrate publication of Butterflies and Moths of the Smokies, by Charles R. Smith and Elizabeth A. Domingue.

The book, the latest in a series of pocket-sized field guides to the plants and animals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, will help visitors identify and learn about pollinators while exploring the Smokies and Southern Appalachia.

“Butterflies and moths are special because of their great importance as pollinators and because they are everywhere, fluttering about in our backyards, gardens and along the trails we hike, enhancing our outdoor experience with their often vibrant, and sometimes subtle, beauty,” Domingue said.

Smith, a naturalist, educator and conservationist retired from Cornell University, will conduct a lecture on butterflies and moths in the Sugarlands Visitor Center theater near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, on Wednesday, July 10, from 1 - 2 p.m.

A book-signing session will follow from 2-5 p.m. Visitors can interact one-on-one with Smith and Domingue, a naturalist trained in the Cornell tradition who leads interpretive hikes for GSMA and across the country through Just Get Outdoors, her Tennessee-based business.

The authors will conduct a similar lecture and book signing at Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, North Carolina, on Thursday, July 11, from 1 - 5 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

Association members will have the opportunity to join the authors in the field on Sunday, July 14, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., in the Cades Cove area near Townsend, Tennessee. Participants will identify and learn about butterflies while exploring various habitats in one of the best locations in the park for wildlife viewing. Following that program, the public is invited to a book signing session at Cades Cove Visitor Center from 2:30 - 5 p.m.

Great Smoky Mountains Association, one of the national park’s oldest nonprofit funding partners, will serve as host for each event.

For more information, visit SmokiesInformation.org or call 865.436.7318, Ext. 325, 222 or 254.