“Nothing other than humans really is comparable to what beavers can do on the landscape.”  

In this episode, Explore host David McGuffin interviews Glynnis Hood, a world-renowned beaver expert and professor emerita of ecology at the University of Alberta. They discuss the significance of the beaver as Canada’s national animal, marking its 50th anniversary. Hood shares her insights into the beaver’s resilience and its ability to modify landscapes, making beavers a keystone species with a substantial environmental impact. They delve into the beaver’s history, its near extinction, and current resurgence, highlighting its role in maintaining biodiversity, regulating water systems, and potentially mitigating climate change and wildfires. The episode also explores human-beaver conflicts and coexistence strategies, emphasizing the beaver’s crucial role in shaping the Canadian environment.

Hood is a professor emerita and ecologist at the University of Alberta and an adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan. 

Hood’s research interests include aquatic ecology, wildlife biology, and human-wildlife interactions. For more than 20 years, Hood has integrated her research on beaver ecology with more focused studies of beaver management to enhance human-wildlife coexistence. She is the author of Semi-aquatic mammals: Ecology and Biology and The Beaver Manifesto. Her first children’s book is A Cabin Christmas. The Beaver Manifesto: Conservation, Conflict, and the Future of Wetlands, which is the second edition of The Beaver Manifesto will be released this fall.

Learn more about the beaver in this recent Canadian Geographic feature by Brian Banks.