Christopher C. Grinter has spent much of his life surrounded by insects, though not in the way most people imagine. As Senior Collection Manager of Entomology at the California Academy of Sciences, he oversees one of the world’s major scientific archives of insects, a record of life that stretches from the smallest moth to the largest butterfly. His work helps support the California All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (CalATBI), an effort to document every species in the state before they vanish.

Grinter’s fascination began far from California. Growing up in suburban Chicago, he watched butterflies drift through his backyard and wanted to know their names. “It all started with butterflies,” he says. His parents took him to a members’ night at the Field Museum, where he saw an insect collection for the first time. “I had my mind blown.” He began volunteering there, labeling and databasing specimens, and eventually joined scientists in the field. Butterflies led him to moths—far more numerous and largely unseen. “An urban backyard probably has at least a few species of microlepidoptera that still need a scientific name,” he says.

That early curiosity became a career in taxonomy and curation. When CalATBI launched, Grinter’s team received funding for large-scale fieldwork across California, collecting hundreds of thousands of insects and covering tens of thousands of miles. The scale of the effort was unlike anything seen in a generation. It produced both scientific treasure and the occasional misadventure—like the time their van sank into Mojave Desert sand. They waited for rescue in 100-degree heat, but, as he recalls, “couldn’t stop the sampling.”

For Grinter, CalATBI is both a scientific and civic project. “An institution like the California Academy of Sciences lies at the intersection of nature and community,” he says. The museum’s mission—“to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration”—aligns with CalATBI’s goal to “discover it all, protect it forever.” The initiative builds on the original All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory pioneered in Costa Rica three decades ago, but its scope and technology are distinctly Californian.

Today, genetic sequencing is routine. “DNA barcoding as a technique isn’t on the cutting edge anymore, and in the best way—it has become routine,” Grinter says. His team integrates genomic analysis into specimen digitization, creating a DNA reference library for California’s insects. By mid-2026, tens of thousands of historic specimens will have verified barcodes—an infrastructure serving not just scientists but also agriculture and industry.

Still, Grinter insists that data alone is not enough. Observations from platforms like iNaturalist can inspire hypotheses, but “the next best step along the way is ethically vouchering a specimen that therefore allows science to be conducted.” Museums, he says, form “the archive of life,” anchoring evidence through time and making science repeatable.

California’s biodiversity is both extraordinary and imperiled. Grinter estimates roughly 8,000 species of Lepidoptera in the state but has watched their abundance wane. Drought, urban sprawl, and climate stress erode ecosystems year by year. “The decline marches on at only a few imperceptible percentage points every year, but after decades it compounds,” he says. Yet discoveries continue—more than forty new moth species from recent fieldwork alone.

What gives him hope are the people joining the effort: students, community scientists, and colleagues across institutions. “Modern science doesn’t happen alone in basements,” he says. “It’s teams of people working and supporting each other.” For Grinter, that collaboration, and the curiosity that drives it, may be as vital to California’s biodiversity as the species themselves.

An interview with Chris Grinter

Mongabay: You’ve spent years studying and curating insect collections. What first drew you to butterflies and moths, and what keeps that fascination alive for you?

Chris Grinter: It all started with butterflies. As a kid growing up in the suburbs of Chicago I was fascinated with these beautiful animals that would wander into the garden, and I wanted to learn as much about them as possible. Then I was lucky enough to have my parents take me to a Members Night at the Field Museum where I saw a collection for the first time and had my mind blown. From that point on I began a collection of my own, and started volunteering as a student at the Field Museum and spending my summers helping curate the collections, database specimens, and eventually accompany museum scientists into the field. And once I started paying attention to the diversity of butterflies I realized there was a vast world of moths that went unseen every night – about 15 moth species for every 1 butterfly species. An urban backyard probably has at least a few species of microlepidoptera that still needs a scientific name. I was hooked. Today I’m grateful to my early mentors at the Field like Jim Louderman and Paul Goldstein; and try to carry the passion I have for entomology forward to students that have the same curiosity.

Mongabay: Is there a particular story or moment in the field that, for you, captures what this work is really about?

Chris Grinter: The two years of funding we received for the new collections aspect of the project was a unique investment in California entomology that we haven’t seen for a generation. My team traveled tens of thousands of miles in California collecting hundreds of thousands of insects, which will fuel countless discoveries down the line. I think of the adventures we had, including getting our van stuck in the sand of the Mojave desert a few years ago. We waited in the 100 degree heat to be rescued a few hours later by a colleague with a truck and a tow strap, but we were prepared with plenty of water and nets, couldn’t stop the sampling! I hope that this sort of investment is just the beginning for ongoing insect discovery in California.

Mongabay: As Senior Collection Manager of Entomology at the California Academy of Sciences, you oversee an extraordinary archive of life. How do collections like yours underpin CalATBI’s mission to “discover it all, protect it forever”?

Chris Grinter: The ATBI model is one that has caught on since Dan Janzen coined the term in 1993, putting together one of the first systematic and intensive inventories of the biodiversity of Costa Rica. But the inspiration to discover and inventory life has long been the ethos of natural history scientists and collections. We as scientists are driven to discover and protect what we learn about. As the world rapidly changes around us, we need to accelerate the discovery, collection, and preservation of these specimens; but also the habitats, communities, and cultural collections that have formed around this web of life. An institution like the California Academy of Sciences lies at the intersection of nature and community. We take the investment by the people and State of California, and the CalATBI project, and wrap it into our mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.

Mongabay: CalATBI combines classical taxonomy with cutting-edge DNA sequencing. From your perspective, how do voucher specimens and genetic data complement one another?

Chris Grinter: It’s amazing to me that DNA barcoding as a technique isn’t on the cutting edge of science anymore, and in the best way—it has become routine. Fundamentally the genetic data is one and the same as the voucher specimen, we just have tools today that you can plug into a laptop to unlock the DNA. Here in the Department of Entomology we approach digitization in a holistic way. We start with transcribing the label data, photograph the specimen, and now we use cutting-edge nanopore technologies to unlock genomes, all as part of our digitization workflow. While the CalATBI project was not focused on classic taxonomic methods nor cutting edge sequencing, it was able to build a critical piece of California infrastructure—a DNA barcode library for California insects. By June of 2026 the Academy will have sequenced tens of thousands of specimens from California historic collections (both from CAS and our partner institutions), providing a backbone of verified DNA sequences to better serve the entire community from research scientists to California agriculture and industry.

Mongabay: California is home to an astonishing diversity of Lepidoptera. What do butterflies and moths reveal about the broader health of California’s ecosystems?

Chris Grinter: I estimate that the state has roughly 8,000 species of Lepidoptera, and putting together that list is just one of the many things we are trying to do to better understand our own biodiversity. It’s surprising to me that even with a short tenure in California, I look back on the years I was first in the state as a time of relative abundance. The impacts of prolonged drought is felt only incrementally every year, and after my 18 years of experience with CA moths, it’s shocking to realize what is being lost annually. The decline marches on at only a few imperceptible percentage points every year, but after decades it compounds. I look into the collections and see records of moths from areas that are now long lost to urban sprawl, development, and agriculture. The stress of a changing climate, invasive species, and pollution on top of that makes me firmly believe that we need to sustain this investment in discovery now. While we need to leverage technologies to accelerate this discovery, we also need to invest in the people and institutions behind those discoveries.

Mongabay: Are there particular species or habitats in California whose stories you think best illustrate the urgency—or the promise—of biodiversity discovery?

Chris Grinter: It’s hard to narrow down to a specific region because even here in San Francisco we have discoveries to be made. The moths alone from the last few years have generated at least 40 undescribed species, ranging from NW California down to the Mojave. That’s just from a handful of collecting trips scattered across two years of work, it’s exciting (and daunting) to realize how much work there is to be done.

Mongabay: The CalATBI involves collaboration among hundreds of scientists across many institutions. How does your work connect with others in the initiative, and what have you learned from that coordination?

Chris Grinter: It has been an exciting time to be an entomologist in California. The CalATBI project has served to better connect all of us as a community, working towards a common goal of discovery. Modern science doesn’t happen alone in basements, it’s a collaboration of teams of people working and supporting each other. This is exemplified by the papers that will come out of this effort, with huge lists of authors, all of them playing an integral role in the project. All of our institutions have different perspectives and expertise that informs what each of us do, and build upon.

Mongabay: CalATBI puts strong emphasis on verifiable, physical records of life through voucher specimens, even as platforms like iNaturalist generate vast amounts of observational data. How do you see those two forms of evidence—observations and specimens—working together to advance biodiversity science?

Chris Grinter: A lot of science can be conducted on observations, see iNaturalist. But it’s just the beginning. An observation can generate a hypothesis that requires scientific investigation. The next best step along the way is ethically vouchering a specimen that therefore allows science to be conducted.

Mongabay: What role do museum collections play in rescuing or preserving biodiversity information that might otherwise be lost?

Chris Grinter: Museums, and the global network that we form, are the archive of life. From every small regional museum to national collections, each one of us serves a role in the global scientific architecture that is fundamental to modern society. The stories of evolution that we discover, DNA barcode libraries, image libraries, AI tools, and future unknown technologies that are being built to identify insects, pests, pathogens, and disease vectors—all start with a museum specimen. Without that voucher specimen that can be studied through time, the repeatable nature of science is lost. These collections in natural history museums form the truths of biodiversity.

Mongabay: How have advances in imaging, digitization, and citizen (the term community science, not citizen) science changed the way you and others study Lepidoptera?

Chris Grinter: The accessibility of data gets better every year, and websites like the Moth Photographers Group or iNaturalist make learning about and identifying these species easier and easier. I grew up with a small regional field guide from Charles Covell, which was one of the most foundational books of my career—but today the overlap and interaction between community scientists and professionals has never been so accessible, and so important. Any person on the planet can snap a picture of an insect that tells a story in an instant that might have otherwise never been known, or would have taken a century to make it to press. And in large natural history collections we can invest (and have the duty to invest) in tools and techniques to make collections accessible to anyone, anywhere on the planet.

Mongabay: Beyond their beauty, butterflies and moths serve essential ecological roles—as pollinators, prey, and environmental indicators. What do you wish more people understood about their importance?

Chris Grinter: Most people don’t realize the diversity of moths (13,250 and counting in the USA!), and the role they play in the ecosystem. Butterflies turn out to mostly be poor pollinators, but moths are amazing. If you look at flowers at night they often have moth visitors, fluffy scales covered in pollen bouncing from flower to flower pollinating. And then their caterpillars turn out to be one of the most important and dominant herbivores in almost every ecosystem. The entire coevolution of plants and insects is fascinating, but caterpillars in particular have driven the diversity and defenses of plants we have come to love and rely on (caffeine, nicotine, morphine, rubber, countless other drugs and chemicals that are critical to daily human life). All due to tiny caterpillars munching leaves for millions of years.

Mongabay: For young people inspired by insects or biodiversity, what advice would you give about building a career in this field—and about keeping curiosity alive through the painstaking work of science?

Chris Grinter: Getting involved with a local nature club, iNaturalist group, natural history museum, etc is the best way to connect to a community of people. Many museums or universities have internships that can even pay you to work in a collection, but make those connections to find mentorships. And I would also say let science take you on the path you find most interesting. Start with a love for bugs, or flowers, or anything and get fascinated in college with evolution, or medicine, or even a non STEM field. Learn how to communicate that passion to other people, because having better educated and knowledgeable politicians, mechanics, lawyers, etc who have an appreciation for biodiversity benefits everyone. I also wouldn’t say science is painstaking, but it can be humbling. The more you learn about something the more you realize you really don’t know the answer, and sometimes that answer can take years of investigation. Those discoveries along the way, even when they are relatively small, are thrilling.

Mongabay: As someone who has spent years documenting life in all its intricate forms, what gives you hope as you look ahead—both for biodiversity and for the next generation of naturalists?

Chris Grinter: The next generation of passionate scientists gives me hope for a brighter future of science funding and education. There are so many excited students out there now fascinated by biodiversity, it’s wonderful to see that spread. As a community we need to embrace and empower diverse communities, who bring new perspectives to every aspect of what we do, that diversity brings strength. I’ve also been heartened by the commitment and investment that California is making in biodiversity and conservation.

Mongabay has a grant to report on California’s biodiversity from the California Institute of Biodiversity (CIB), which also funds a variety of institutions engaged in researching biodiversity in California. CIB also provides funding to the California Academy of Sciences. Mongabay maintains complete editorial independence over stories about grantees of CIB, which means CIB does not have the right to assign, edit, or review Mongabay’s reports prior to publication.

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Rhett Butler Editor

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AnimalsBiodiversityConservationEnvironmentInsectsInterviewsInvertebratesCaliforniaNorth AmericaUnited StatesCalATBICalifornia Academy of Sciences

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