Sandy Koi
Research Associate
sandykoi2009@gmail.com

Sandy Koi is a field biologist & entomologist for several conservation-minded organizations in South Florida, enthusiastic about the amazing natural world of our planet. She earned an MSc in Entomology from the University of Florida and has a BSc in Environmental Science and Biology from Nova Southeastern University; her scientific publications revolve around the object of her thesis, the Atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala), an imperiled South Florida species that she has been studying since 2001.

Sandy currently spearheads an assisted relocation project for the Atala butterfly from eruption sites into suitable new sites in Southeast Florida. She actively coordinates butterfly surveys for organizations such as the North American Butterfly Association (NABA), Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) and the Institute for Regional Conservation (IRC). She is a contributing member of the Imperiled Butterfly Working Group (IBWG), under the authority of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and a founding member of the Miami Pine Rocklands Preservation Coalition, a non-profit dedicated to protecting what remains of our natural pine rockland ecosystems.

Many of her photographs and plant information about South Florida butterfly host and nectar plants grace the national NABA website and she is a frequent speaker at local organizations in Florida, including Butterfly Days at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and the Southern Lepidopterists’ Society.