Sam Jaffe

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Sam Jaffe (born 1982/83) is an American naturalist, science educator, and "caterpillar wrangler", known for macro photography and for science-outreach work with caterpillars, including founding The Caterpillar Lab.

Early life and education

Jaffe grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, where his parents encouraged his early interest in bringing home caterpillars and other small wildlife. Soon he was doing experiments such as seeing if black swallowtail caterpillars would make a different colored chrysalis depending on the color of their environment.

After graduating from Brown University in 2007 with a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology, he worked for a year in Harvard University's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, on a study of interactions between caterpillars and ants.

Later, he attended Antioch University New England (AUNE), where he earned a master's degree in environmental science in 2014. Because Jaffe enjoyed bringing "wine, cheese and live caterpillars" to his photo exhibits, he says, "the gallery openings turned into live caterpillar shows, and it just went crazy from there." he enlisted classmates to help him raise and feed caterpillars in his Keene, New Hampshire, apartment.

Caterpillar Lab

The Caterpillar Lab also hosts events beyond its local NH region, where visitors can meet with lab docents and wander among displays of living caterpillars from varied species. At such events, according to the Discovery Museum in Acton, Massachusetts, "The Lab uses live, native New England caterpillars to educate and create an appreciation for the incredible natural value of their backyards, neighborhoods, and green spaces." Their displays feature annually in Mothapalooza events hosted by Arc of Appalachia in Ohio.

Jaffe and the lab also take part in scientific research, for example the effect of emerald ash borer beetles. On a nature walk in 2024, Caterpillar Lab intern Logan Dieck discovered the previously unknown caterpillar of Derrima stellata, a species that entomologist David L. Wagner describes as "the Holy Grail for moth life histories in the East Coast."

Recognition In 2017, the third-annual Ruth and James Ewing Arts Awards event in Keene, New Hampshire, honored Jaffe's photography, describing him as "a naturalist photographer and science educator whose true passion is more Charles Darwin than Ansel Adams." According to the Keene Sentinel, one of the event's co-sponsors, "The cecropia caterpillar he brought as his plus-one drew quite a crowd."

In 2021, the Cheshire County Conservation District named Jaffe the county's Educator of the Year. The annual award is given to "an outstanding educator in Cheshire County that has instilled a conservation ethic in their students and has a strong commitment to environmental stewardship."

Jaffe and his macro cinematography of caterpillars feature in a 2025 one-hour documentary The Extraordinary Caterpillar – A Film Celebration of Nature's Unsung Heroes. As of 2025, Jaffe was under contract with Cornell University Press for "a scholarly book of caterpillar, butterfly, and moth histories."