ODU biologist Featured Guest on Upcoming Public Radio Program 'With Good Reason'
March 12, 2015
Tatyana Lobova, planting milkweed with students as part of the "Monarchs for Monarchs" program at ODU.
Old Dominion University biologist Tatyana Lobova will appear next week on the public radio program "With Good Reason," to speak about a groundbreaking partnership with Hampton Roads botanical groups to provide food and habitat for endangered monarch butterfly populations.
Lobova, senior lecturer in ODU's College of Sciences, will be interviewed on the program, titled "The Monarch Massacre," at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 19 on WHRV-FM, 89.5.
Norfolk and Old Dominion University sit squarely on the East Coast flyway for the annual migration of monarch butterflies to their wintering grounds in Mexico, which is truly one of nature's miracles.
The "Monarchs for Monarchs" program Lobova leads at Old Dominion has introduced several species of native milkweed plants to community gardens ringing the University.
Milkweed is the considered the perfect plant for promoting stability in monarch butterfly populations, which have dwindled continent-wide. The plants provide food and shelter, and prompt the butterflies to secrete a toxin making them less desirable to predators.
The garden plots have been planted and are tended to by students, providing a research laboratory for biology students, and food and shelter for the monarch butterflies.
Podcast audio files of the full radio program can be found the week the show airs on the "With Good Reason" website.
Funded by a consortium of schools from across the state, "With Good Reason" spotlights research being conducted at Virginia's public universities. The show can be heard around the state on public radio stations, and in markets ranging from Atlanta to Alaska. Broadcast times are posted on the show's website.
Faculty members are encouraged to join the "With Good Reason" Facebook page, or subscribe to the Podcast.
"With Good Reason" has twice won the Gabriel Award for Best Documentary/Public Affairs Program. It also is the recipient of top honors from the Virginia Association of Broadcasters and won a second-place award in the Public Radio News Directors competition.