In this age of global weirding where climate disruption has tumbled the Goldilocks effect into unruly surges of too much and too little water, the restoration of beavers offers ancient

In this age of global weirding where climate disruption has tumbled the Goldilocks effect into unruly surges of too much and too little water, the restoration of beavers offers ancient nature-based solutions to the tangle of challenges bedeviling human civilization. Droughts, floods, soil erosion, climate change, biodiversity loss – you name it, and beaver is on it.


In this episode, Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center share their semi-aquatic journey to becoming Beaver Believers. They are part of a passionate global movement to bring back our rodent relatives who show us how to heal nature by working with nature.


This is an episode of Nature’s Genius, a Bioneers podcast series exploring how the sentient symphony of life holds the solutions we need to balance human civilization with living systems. Visit the series page to learn more. (https://bioneers.org/natures-genius/)
Featuring


Kate Lundquist, co-director of the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center’s WATER Institute and the Bring Back the Beaver Campaign in Sonoma County, is a conservationist, educator and ecological artist who works with landowners, communities and resource agencies to uncover obstacles, identify strategic solutions, and generate restoration recommendations to assure healthy watersheds, water security, listed species recovery and climate change resiliency.


Brock Dolman, co-founded (in 1994) the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center where he co-directs the WATER Institute. A wildlife biologist and watershed ecologist, he has been actively promoting “Bringing Back Beaver in California” since the early 2000s. He was given the Salmonid Restoration Federation’s coveted Golden Pipe Award in 2012: “…for his leading role as a proponent of “working with beavers” to restore native habitat.




Resources


Beaver Believer: How Massive Rodents Could Restore Landscapes and Ecosystems At Scale (https://bioneers.org/beaver-believer-how-massive-rodents-could-restore-landscapes-and-ecosystems-at-scale-zmbz2110/)


Fire and Water: Land and Watershed Management in the Age of Climate Change (https://bioneers.org/fire-and-water-watershed-management-zmbz2008/)


Brock Dolman – Basins of Relations: A Reverential Rehydration Revolution (https://bioneers.org/brock-dolman-basins-of-relations-a-reverential-rehydration-revolution-bioneers/)


From Kingdom to Kin-dom: Acting As If We Have Relatives Brock Dolman, Paul Stamets and Brian Thomas Swimme (https://bioneers.org/from-kingdom-to-kin-dom-acting-as-if-we-have-relatives-brock-dolman-paul-stamets/)


The WATER Institute’s Beaver in California reader (https://oaec.org/publications/beaver-in-california/)


Bioneers – Where Water, Flows Life Thrives - Ensuring Drought Resilience and Water Security for Farms, People and Ecosystems (https://bioneers.org/water-security-access-clean-water/)




Credits



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Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel


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Written by: Kenny Ausubel


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Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch


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Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris


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Producer: Teo Grossman


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Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey


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Production Assistance: Monica Lopez


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Graphic Designer: Megan Howe

Ask a Chemist: How does handwashing kill coronavirus?
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A common recommendation from experts to help

Ask a Chemist: How does handwashing kill coronavirus?
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A common recommendation from experts to help protect against coronavirus is to wash your hands often, but why? It turns out that each time you do it is an effective two-pronged attack.

As Kate the Chemist explains, the virus has a weak outer membrane. By using the proper handwashing technique, you're actually breaking through that membrane and ripping the virus apart.

Soap is an important part of the equation because of its two sides: the hydrophobic side (which grabs onto the virus), and the hydrophilic side (which grabs onto the water). Washing your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds allows the virus to be rinsed away.
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DR. KATE BIBERDORF:

Dr. Kate Biberdorf is a scientist, a science entertainer, and a professor at the University of Texas. Through her theatrical and hands-on approach to teaching, Dr. Biberdorf is breaking down the image of the stereotypical scientist, while reaching students who might otherwise be intimidated by science. Check her latest book Kate the Chemist: The Big Book of Experiments at https://amzn.to/3bQX6Yh
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