2024 SER- MWGL Fall Webinar
2024 SER-MWGL Fall Seminar!
Dam Removal & River Restoration: Concept, Practice, and Community in Rebuilding Living Water
Date & Time: Thursday December 12th, 2024 @ 12:00pm EST
This webinar will examine some important dimensions of dam removal for river restoration including dam removal at both large and small scales, the elements of planning, feasibility, experimental design and execution of dam removal, and the importance of community engagement and stewardship of the restored river. Our three presenters will provide:
1) A review of the feasibility of the removal of the Ford Dam on the upper Mississippi River in Minnesota’s Twin Cities metropolitan area
2) An analysis of before and after effects of the removal of the Brown Bridge Dam on the aquatic invertebrate communities of the Boardman/Ottaway River in northern Michigan
3.) A discussion of the long-term past, present, and future commitment to the health and value of the Ottaway River by an Indigenous People, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians with historic and continuing relationship to the Ottaway.
Presenters:
Chris Lenhart: Chris is a research professor with the Biproduct & Biosystems Engineering (BBE) Department at the University of Minnesota since 2010. He also works with The Nature Conservancy’s Minnesota-ND-SD chapter as a restoration scientist. Chris’s work has focused on treatment wetlands, stream restoration and water quality management, ranging from implementation of projects to research.
Fred Van Dyke: Most recently Fred Van Dyke has served as Executive Director of the Au Sable Institute from 2011-2020 (Michigan, USA), a private, faith-based organization in conservation. At Au Sable Fred developed conservation curricula for college students throughout North America, as well as research collaborations with government, industry, and Native American Tribal Nations. In academia, Fred served as Chair of the Department of Biology and Director of the Environmental Studies Program at Wheaton College (Illinois). His textbook, Conservation Biology (Springer 2020), now in its third edition, is used globally by students in the study of conservation.
Brett Paige Fessell: Over the past 3 decades Brett has led, supported and helped guide a spectrum of initiatives, projects and muddy groundwork related to natural resources restoration, conservation and advocacy as Restoration Section Leader & River Ecologist for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Natural Resources Department . From the trying work of defending tribal treaty rights in federal court to tireless efforts in watershed restoration and conservation he continually strives to ensure indigenous conservation perspectives are acknowledged, considered and applied in a meaningful way.
