Dr Sam Ellis has over 35 years’ experience working on the ecology and conservation of butterflies, including 21 at Butterfly Conservation (BC). He is currently an adviser to Butterfly Conservation Europe (BCE) (Chair from 2020 to 2024) and a committee member of BC’s European Butterflies Group (EBG).
Sam played a key role pioneering BC’s landscape-scale approach to the conservation of butterflies and moths. Between 2007 and 2019, he developed 70 funded landscape-scale projects in the UK, securing in excess of £7m income towards their delivery and authored a report (Ellis et al (2012) Landscape-scale conservation for butterflies and moths: lessons from the UK) which described some of the successes of this approach to insect conservation. He was also BC’s Director of Conservation from 2015 to 2019 and then International Director, before retiring in 2022.
More recently he has worked on the new European Red List of Butterflies project (published in 2025) and has also organised and participated in several BCE and EBG surveys for some of Europe’s most threatened butterflies. He has published over one hundred scientific reports and papers.
Sam’s fascination with butterflies’ dates back to his childhood, and he was able rekindle that interest through studying for a PhD on the ecology and conservation of the Northern Brown Argus in County Durham. For Sam, amongst the most rewarding aspects of studying the ecology of threatened butterflies, is the fact once their habitat requirements are known, management recommendations can be formulated, which if implemented can rapidly lead to improvements in their conservation status.
The Northern Brown Argus remains one of his favourite UK butterflies, along with other species he worked on during his BC career, including the Duke of Burgundy, High Brown Fritillary and Marsh Fritillary. He has recorded and photographed butterflies across Europe and finding the elusive False Comma is amongst his top sightings.
Join Sam in the Picos de Europa this summer!
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