Dr. Becky Brown will be giving us a presentation. Dr. Becky Brown has been a plant ecologist at Eastern Washington University since 2004, and is currently Chair of the Department of Biology.  She and her students study plant community diversity and ecosystem function in a range of ecosystems, including riparia, Palouse Prairie, and the Channeled Scablands.

The Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington was the location of the largest dam removal project in history.  Large dams can reduce riparian vegetation diversity in downstream reaches, and it is unclear whether dam removal will restore these plant communities. In this presentation Dr. Brown will discuss how vegetation communities have changed since dam removal based on 10 years of vegetation monitoring before and after dam removal.  She will also discuss the restoration of plant communities in the drained reservoirs.