SEATTLE — The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture will host at 7 p.m. Tuesday a panel of nine experts who will discuss the removal of the two dams on the Elwha River.
“Short Takes on Dam(n) Science,” will be at The Neptune Theater, 1303 NE 45th St., Seattle.
The cost is $5 at the door or online at stgpresents.org.
Among the panel members will be Anne Shaffer, marine biologist and executive director of the Coastal Watershed Institute, based in Port Angeles; Kim Sager-Fradkin, wildlife biologist with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe; and Aaron Jenkins, Barnard Construction Co. project superintendent for the Elwha and Glines Dam removal.
Also speaking will be Sarah Sterling, anthropologist, Portland State University; Kurt Jenkins, research wildlife biologist, USGS-Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center; George Pess, NOAA supervisory research fishery biologist; Emily Eidam, graduate student, UW School of Oceanography; Brad Hanson, NOAA wildlife biologist; and Sarah Morley, research ecologist, NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center:
Panelists will cover topics such as life before the dams, the return of salmon to the upper river, restoration of near-shore areas and the evolution of the river and its mouth.
Ranae Holland, a scientist featured on Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot” and a fisheries biologist who has done research on the Elwha, will host the panel.
Removal of the dams is part of the $325 million Elwha River restoration project, designed to open the 70 miles of river to salmon and steelhead.
The Elwha Dam was demolished by March 2012. The Glines Camyon Dam has been blasted down to the waterline.
Tuesday’s presentation is in conjunction with the Burke’s latest exhibit, “Elwha: A River Reborn.” It is on view through March 9 at the museum on the University of Washington campus in Seattle.
