Last year was an historic year on the Klamath River, where the biggest dam removal in the U.S. took place. And now, Oregon State University has released an Engineering Out Loud podcast on the project, and we have to say, it’s absolutely worth a listen.
The shortest is under 14 minutes, the longest under 24 minutes.
The first of the three episodes examines the hope for the monumental engineering project – that it will restore some balance to a damaged ecological system. The host speaks with Mark Bransom, who oversaw the demolition and restoration about why and how it’s happening and some of the challenges of the project.
For the second episode, the subject shifts to the removal of the four dams from the Klamath River as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture the interplay of science, engineering, and culture. Desirée Tullos, professor of water resources engineering at Oregon State University assembled a collaborative team that unites Western science and traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous people.
In the final episode, the Klamath River’s transformation after the four dams were removed is discussed. The team studying the impacts of the dam removals on plant and algae are interviewed, as well as some of the students and faculty about what they are learning at the confluence of engineering and ecology.
Interested, click here to listen on the College of Engineering’s webpage.
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