Ben Goldfarb – January 2027

7:00 pm, Tuesday, January 12, 2027.
Online via Zoom, Free and open to the public
Registration required. Click here to register for the Zoom webinar.

Dam It: Partnering with Beavers to Heal the Planet

In Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb revealed that our modern conception of a healthy ecosystem is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once eliminated millions of beavers from North America’s waterways. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: ponds drained, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers”—including scientists, farmers, and passionate citizens—recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier than those without them. From the Nevada deserts to the Scottish Highlands, Believers are hard at work restoring these industrious rodents to their former haunts. In his talk, Ben will discuss the history and biology of this world-changing species; how beavers can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, climate change, and the loss of habitat for birds and other wildlife; and how we can coexist with this challenging but vital rodent.

Ben Goldfarb is an environmental journalist whose work has appeared in National Geographic, the Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, the New Yorker, and many other publications. His most recent book, Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, was named one of the best books of 2023 by the New York Times and received the Rachel Carson Award for Excellence in Environmental Writing and the Banff Book Competition’s Grand Prize. His previous book, Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, won the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. He lives in Colorado with his wife, his daughter, and his dog, Kit —which is, of course, what you call a baby beaver. www.bengoldfarb.com