2026 Webinars
#5. Wetland conservation and restoration in a warming climate: the role of beaver dams
Date: Thursday, February 26 at 12 pm PT / 1 pm MT.
Presenter: Suzanne Bayley, PhD, Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners
Dr. Suzanne Bayley is President of the Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners, a NGO in the Columbia Valley of BC. She is an Emeritus Professor of Ecology at the University of Alberta. Suzanne is an expert in the ecology and management of wetlands and shallow lakes. Her primary interest is in applied ecology, the effects of climate change on aquatic systems and she now works to understand the effects of beaver in aquatic systems.
Wetlands are rare ecosystems in southeast BC, providing habitat for numerous species, enhancing biodiversity and increasingly affected by the changing climate, which has been warming for several decades, drying wetlands and changing the water flows in streams and rivers. Ecologists and concerned communities have been trying to restore or create wetlands but face major challenges in building healthy wetlands. Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners have been assessing the hydrogeomorphic characteristics that lead to healthy wetlands, and how we can use constructed beaver dams to mitigate the effects of the warming climate on wetlands and streams. This project is in collaboration with Catriona Leven, Jessica Holden and Dr. Ryan MacDonald.
