Who: Duncan Jurman, 17

What: Started a program to help protect butterflies

Duncan Jurman has been interested in caterpillars—and the butterflies they turn into—since he was 4. Growing up, he researched them and built them a garden. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, teen learned that insects worldwide are threatened. Monarch butterfly populations, for example, have declined drastically in recent decades. The main reasons are habitat loss, climate change, and widespread use of pesticides and herbicides.

So in 2018, Duncan decided to help butterflies in an even bigger way. He launched the Bring Butterflies Back initiative. It educates students across Florida about butterflies and encourages them to grow gardens where butterflies can safely eat and lay eggs. Duncan also created a garden and an enclosure for raising and housing butterflies at his school. 

He says supporting butterflies helps protect entire ecosystems: “Without them, other species that eat them—birds, for example—are going to collapse.” Butterflies are also important pollinators, he explains. 

Luckily, Duncan says, it’s not hard to give butterflies places they can thrive. “All it takes is one flower to start a garden,” he notes. “It makes a huge impact, one plant at a time.”