Fall 2025 Short Course: Partnering with Beaver in River Restoration

Colin Thorne is the Emeritus Chair of Physical Geography at the University of Nottingham, UK. He has studied rivers and biogeomorphology in streams ranging from headwater streams to the World’s largest rivers; including work on every continent except Antarctica. His publications are widely read and have been cited >21,000 times during the last 50 years. While primarily an academic performing original research, he has always considered the practical utility of his research and has advised many local and national agencies and governments on river restoration and flood resilience. His research has been recognised through awards by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Royal Geographical Society. Colin now resides in Vancouver, WA, where advises BPA on restoration of the Columbia River’s tributaries and does consultancy through Wolf Water Resources and BioAnalysts.

Emily Fairfax is an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Minnesota specializing in ecohydrology. Fairfax is also an affiliate faculty member at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory. Fairfax uses a combination of remote sensing, modeling, and field work to understand how beaver ecosystem engineering can create drought and fire-resistant patches in the landscape under a changing climate. Her research has been featured in National Geographic, BBC, NPR, PBS, Scientific American, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times, amongst others.

Fairfax teaches courses in data visualization, environmental data analysis, hydrology, and geomorphology.

When Fairfax says she can talk about beavers all day, she’s not kidding.

Chris Jordan is a Riverscape Scientist with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center and a Program Manager for the Mathematical Biology and Systems Monitoring Program. Chris’ passion and work is fostering the science and the community of practice to promote healthy and functional riverscapes for the myriad benefits and services they provide.  A co-benefits framework for land and water user communities that also includes cultural and ecological values for conservation and recreation is possible, and is the only long-term durable solution that ensures a legacy of riverscape health.

Alexa is the Director of the Methow-Okanogan Beaver Project. As a Restoration Ecologist, she works for sustainable, effective, and collaborative solutions to challenging environmental and social conditions.  She is a co-chair of the WA Beaver Working Group, the WA Beaver Policy Group, and the National Beaver Working Group’s Policy & Legal Committee. She is also a 2020 graduate of BeaverCorps, the Beaver Institute’s Wetland Manager’s Beaver Coexistence training program. Alexa has called the Methow & Okanogan Watersheds of the Upper Columbia in north central WA State home since 2001. She has studied songbirds, carnivores, plant communities, sustainable agricultural practices, and post-wildfire recovery of western riverscapes.  Alexa completed her BS in Wildlife Biology at Virginia Tech and MS in Ecology at Eastern Washington University where she focused on beaver-mediated restoration of degraded streams across western NA.