In the Media

Beaver talk with Dan Rodricks of The Baltimore Sun

Dan Rodricks of The Baltimore Sun produces a podcast called Roughly Speaking. In episode 352, he ponders the question “Can the Mighty Beaver Save the Bay?” — meaning, of course, the Chesapeake Bay. To find answers, he visits a beaver dam at Bee Tree Run, and interviews Mike Callahan, the founder of the Beaver Institute, Scott McGill, the founder and CEO of Ecotone, and me.

You can listen to the 42-minute episode via The Baltimore Sun or on the Ecotone website. Hear what Rodricks discovered about the history of beavers in the Chesapeake region and how beaver dams create critical habitat for a multitude of species, while filtering sediment and damaging nutrients from waters that flow to the Chesapeake Bay. We can’t expect beavers to undo all the damage that has been done, but if we let them go about their business, they can be allies in saving the Bay.

Contributor spotlight in the Bellingham Review

My essay “Homing” was selected to be part of the special “Place & Space in Canada” section in Issue 74 (Spring 2017) of the Bellingham Review. In this Contributor Spotlight Q&A, I talk about, among other things, my writing process and the idea of a Canadian aesthetic to writing about place and space.

The Bellingham Review is a literary journal produced by Western Washington University’s MFA program. Victoria-based writer Christin Geall collaborated with Editor-in-Chief, Susanne Paola Antonetta, to curate the “Place & Space in Canada” special international section in Issue 74.

A conversation with “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller

In January 2016, I sat down with Dave Miller, the host of Oregon Public Broadcasting’s daily talk show “Think Out Loud” to think, and talk, about beavers. Dave and his executive producer, Sage Van Wing, are an interviewee’s dream team: smart, thoughtful, witty and, best of all, prepared. They read my book in advance and we had a wonderful, wide-ranging 20-minute conversation about beavers in general and Once They Were Hats in particular. Click below to listen.

Beavers in the ‘hood at Vancouver’s Olympic Park

Beavers have moved into Vancouver’s Hinge Park, right in the heart of the trendy Olympic Village neighbourhood, and are attracting international attention. In June, a reporter from PRI’s “The World” travelled to B.C. to meet these urban celebrities and invited me to join her for a chat on the walkway overlooking their lodge. Read and listen to Andrea Crossan’s PRI story >>

In exciting recent news, three kits have been born to the pioneering beaver pair and can be seen swimming about in their home stream with their parents. To keep up-to-date with the family, follow OlympicVillageBeaver (@VancouverBeaver) on Twitter.

Hinge Park beaver lodge (© Frances Backhouse).

Hinge Park beaver lodge (© Frances Backhouse).