November 23, 2022
AWA Talk with Kirby England – Beavers: Coexisting with the Best Dam Wetland Managers on Our Landscape
AWA is pleased to host a talk over Zoom by Kirby England, a wetland and riparian areas ecologist with an incredible appreciation for an original wetland creator and ecosystem engineer: the North American Beaver.
In his talk, Kirby will give an overview of beaver ecology; that is the organism’s interactions with their environment living and non-living, as well as our interactions past, present, and future with this original wetland creator and ecosystem engineer. This 45-minute presentation will focus especially on important and sometimes misunderstood aspects of beaver ecology, including the benefits beavers bring to water quality and quantity, bio-diversity, fire-proofing the landscape, and others. We will also go over our human interactions with beavers from pre-contact, through the fur trade era, to beaver conservation then restoration efforts, and now onto the present and future ways in which we will live alongside an animal with the ability to modify their environment second only to our own. Despite all the benefits that beavers provide the environment, there are opportunities for human-wildlife conflicts with a beaver population and this presentation will also focus on ongoing beaver co-existence efforts allowing us to benefit from beavers with overall lower costs; both environmental and economical. Lessons learned through twenty plus years of personal and professional experience in beaver wetlands will be shared and beaver stories can be shared in the best dam presentation on beavers and beaver habitat in Alberta.
Kirby is a full-time faculty member at Lethbridge College in the School of Environmental Sciences where he teaches Ecology, Grassland and Forest Resources, Integrated Resource Management, as well as a Stream and Wetland related course to students in several diplomas and the Bachelor of Ecosystem Management degree. In addition to his academic service, Kirby is the owner and principal consultant of You Betula Environmental Inc., an environmental consulting company specializing in wetland management, vegetation ecology, and especially beaver co-existence projects with land-owners, land managers, and municipalities. The latter beaver work is further informed by Kirby’s involvement with the not-for-profit Beaver Institute and their Beaver Corps program.
Date: November 23, 2022
Time: 7:00 pm
Price: Free (registration required)
There is no fee for this evening, however we appreciate any donations you wish to make to AWA. All donations are eligible for a charitable tax receipt. Enter your gift amount below.
