A UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences 2019 Ph.D. graduate and beaver expert was quoted in a recent story by The Seattle Times.

Ben Dittbrenner ’19, who also founded Beavers Northwest in 2013, discussed with the newspaper how beavers view roads as dams and the culverts in them as spaces that need patching up. Dittbrenner saw this firsthand when he worked as a hydrologist in Snohomish County. This led him to found Beavers Northwest, a nonprofit focused on research, education and assisting landowners who are having issues with beavers.

The Seattle Times story focuses on how “beaver engineering” can help slow the effects of climate change, too.

The story reads, “Increasing temperatures in the Pacific Northwest mean precipitation will fall as rain instead of snow in the Cascades, in turn shrinking the snowpack that streams and rivers rely on for cool water during warmer months when rain becomes more scarce. Winter mountain rain pushes more water through streams and rivers at higher volumes, which can lead to greater erosion and flooding.

“Beaver engineering can help alleviate some of these problems. Beaver dams slow water down as it courses through streams from the mountains to the Salish Sea. The ponds created behind beaver dams store water that seeps into the ground, where it is cooled by the earth.”

Read the full story here.