A Kansas woman cycling 10,000 miles from Mexico to Canada will stop in northwest Missouri this week.

According to a news release, 32-year-old Sara Dykman is accompanying the monarch butterflies this spring as they leave the mountains of Central Mexico, where they survived their winter to begin their annual migration north.

“Butterbiking with the butterflies,” Dykman said.

She will be making a stop Monday, at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge to share her trip with a local school in the morning and present to the public in the evening. People are invited to come see her gear and learn how biking 10,000 miles with butterflies is possible during her 7 p.m. presentation at the Refuge Headquarters, Monday, May 15, 2017. The evening event is free to the public; for more information call the Refuge office at 660/442-3187 or visit the Refuge Facebook event page.

“It is so rewarding to connect my adventures to students,” Dykman said. “I want to show people how incredible the world is and be an example of what it means to follow your dreams and take care of the planet.”

The eastern monarch populations have been in steady decline since counting began in the 1990s. In 1996 monarchs covered 21 hectares of the Mexican Oyamel Fir Forest. By 2014, monarchs covered only 0.67 hectares. This 80% decline can be attributed to habitat loss and climate change.