Dr. Robert Michael Pyle founded the Xerces Society in 1971—read the full story here. Dr. Pyle is a biologist and the author of several books, including Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest (co-authored with Caitlin C. LaBar), Magdalena Mountain, Where Bigfoot Walks, Nabokov's Butterflies, and other works of poetry and fiction. He lives in an old Swedish farmhouse in Gray’s River, Washington.