Bryan Pfeiffer is a writer and field biologist whose most recent outdoor adventure came to a victorious, headline-making conclusion this year, after 21 years.
More than two decades ago, in the early 2000s, Bryan got a hunch. Though it had never been seen in the state, Bryan believed that the tiny, exceedingly rare bog elfin butterfly — no more than the size of a penny — just might be lurking around the bogs of his home state of Vermont. So it began: a 21-year-long, binocular-peeping, net-swinging, water sloshing mission that led to one unforgettable, surreal moment of discovery.
We called Bryan to chat about butterfly catching, his fascinating hunt for the elusive bog elfin butterfly, and the broader significance of its discovery in a new state.