For our joint 50th birthday year, we are fundraising for a cause very close to our hearts. Douglas Boyes was an incredible young conservationist with a passion for butterflies and moths and someone who Tom feels very lucky to have got to know and been able to learn so much from about moths and their habitats. Sadly, Douglas died in September 2021 but not before he had inspired a whole host of future conservationists; young and old and from different backgrounds.

Working with his family, Butterfly Conservation set up the Diarsia Awards in Douglas' memory. These awards aim to inspire a new generation of butterfly and moth conservationists, to share Douglas’s passion and further the careers of young researchers. The awards are named after a group of moths that contains species including Ingrailed Clay, Barred Chestnut, Purple Clay, Small Square-spot and Fen Square-spot, and which was the name of Douglas’s Twitter profile.

Annual awards are made to support UK-focused research that helps answer a question to further the conservation of butterflies and moths including to understand their habitats or what is causing their decline.

There are normally two awards per year – one for a Masters-level student to support fieldwork and one for a PhD student to support field or lab work. You can see more on the award including a mini-biography on Douglas here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Butterfly Conservation is the UK charity dedicated to saving butterflies and moths.

Butterflies and moths are key indicators of the health of our environment. They connect us to nature and contribute to our wellbeing. We improve landscapes for butterflies and moths, creating a better environment for us all.