For millennia, beavers have engineered the waterways of the Great Lakes region, creating wetlands that store and filter water, recharge groundwater, and support rich biodiversity. Sydney Lubeck, Mel Shea & Evyn Ladendorf-Lilly, MS SEAS graduates, explore the beaver's role as a keystone species and ecosystem engineer, then look beyond Michigan to see how other states are successfully coexisting with beaver — drawing on a couple of case studies that offer practical lessons and inspiration for stewardship of our own waterways here in the Great Lakes region.


Following the presentation, join us for a guided walk to visit the Gnawsons' territory and look for signs of beaver activity — chewed stumps, lodges, dams, and channels — while observing how their engineering shapes habitat for birds, amphibians, fish, and countless other species that call these waterways home.