Children's author and illustrator Katherine Roy has tackled topics like sharks and elephants in books but more recently she has turned her brushes and words loose on the topic of reproduction in her latest book, "Making More - How Life Begins." We talked to Katherine for this episode about how a project like that comes together and what makes for effective science communication in elements like art and words for complex topics like the biology of reproduction. 

Show Notes:

Illustrator and Author Katherine Roy

 Website: https://www.katherineroy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katherineroystudio/

Oregon was one of the first places in the world to observe the direct impacts of ocean acidification when the oyster hatchery production collapsed in 2007. Dr. Caren Braby, former Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Resources Program Manager and Laura Anderson, former ODFW Commissioner and founder of Local Ocean Seafoods in Newport, talk us through the history, science and ongoing efforts to study and minimize impacts of ocean acidification and hypoxia. We look at current and potential future impacts on Oregon’s ocean fisheries and talk about what Oregonians can do now to help protect our natural resources in the future.

Clockwise: Dr. Caren Braby, Laura Anderson and Tim Akimoff

Show Notes - 

What is Ocean acidification

Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Action Plan

Changing Waters on the Oregon Coast Video

We read Kirk Wallace Johnson's "The Feather Thief" for this inaugural episode of the Beaver State Podcast Book Club, and we really enjoyed it. It's a fantastic crime story, a first-rate science explainer about the Age of Exploitation and peek behind the curtains of a small group of fly tyers who collect exceedingly rare feathers. This first Book Club podcast episode features fly fishing author and historian John Shewey and biologist Emily Weidner, who recommended the book and inadvertently influenced us to start a book club.

From top left - John Shewey, Emily Weidner and host Tim Akimoff

Show Notes: 

Previous Episodes featuring John Shewey - https://myodfw.com/articles/beaver-state-podcast-episode-81-steelhead-fly-fishing-history-john-shewey

Please feel free to contact us via email - 

[email protected]

Trumpeter swans may be recognizable by their loud, old-car-horn honking calls, but Oregon’s largest waterfowl species is still considered cryptic, because they tend to hang out around another large, white swan called Tundra swans. This makes counting Oregon’s Trumpeter swans challenging. To add to the challenges, you have Trumpeter swans that use the Pacific Flyway part of Western Oregon and a unique Rocky Mountain population of Trumpeter swans that sometimes use areas like Summer Lake and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge as wintering areas and breeding areas. This week’s podcast takes you on an adventure to count swans at Summer Lake Wildlife Area, where managers have been working to establish a breeding population. We spend the day with ODFW’s Statewide Waterfowl Coordinator Brandon Reishus learning about efforts to count and preserve these amazing birds.

Show Notes:

Lear more about Oregon’s Trumpeter swans here - https://myodfw.com/wildlife-viewing/species/trumpeter-swan#:~:text=Historically%20hunted%20to%20the%20brink,wingspan%20define%20this%20magnificent%20bird.

Questions or suggestions for topics, please email us at: [email protected]

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Dishaun and Caleb Berry are your typical father and son anglers who love to spend a day fishing together. But they grew up in very different eras. Dishaun, who founded Get Hooked LLC, a project that teaches at-risk and inner city youth how to fish and enjoy the outdoors, started out fishing piers in Santa Monica as a kid before moving to Oregon at a time when he did not see many other Black men out fishing, especially fishing for salmon or steelhead. Caleb, who is 25, has grown up with a few more role models in his father and uncles, who have used YouTube and social media to showcase their fishing adventures as Black men, fathers and passionate advocates of getting People of Color outside. In this episode, we float the Wilson River with Dishaun and Caleb Berry, and you get to hear the adventure, including all the joy associated with hooking and landing a large, hatchery steelhead.

Watch a video of the trip on Instagram or TikTok

Welcome to the 4th season of the Beaver State Podcast! In this episode, Tim and Nicole talk about Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow, a program that provides natural resource professionals training in the diverse values and important roles of hunting and its impact on conservation. Tim went through the program in 2015, and Nicole completed the training this year. In addition to completing a Hunter Education course, Nicole learned about trapping and shotgun shooting and safety skills. She wrapped up her CLFT course in Utah by participating in her first-ever pheasant hunt.

Learn more about Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow

What’s coming up on the Beaver State Podcast –

Don’t forget about the Beaver State Podcast Book Club. We’re currently reading “The Feather Thief” by Kirk Wallace Johnson and will be discussing the book with USFWS biologist Emily Weidner and writer and fly-fishing historian John Shewey. - https://myodfw.com/articles/beaver-state-podcast-bonus-episode-beaver-state-podcast-book-club

Questions or suggestions for topics, please email us at: [email protected]

So, how does this book club work?

We’ll be reading four books a year, or one book each quarter to be discussed in a podcast episode during that quarter. We’ll have guests that relate to the topics in the book as well as a special representative of the podcast audience to join us to discuss the book.

The first book for the first quarter of 2023 will be “The Feather Thief,” by Kirk Wallace Johnson. I highly encourage folks to pick up a copy at your local library or your local bookstore. Or pick it up through an audiobook subscription and give it a read or listen while the podcast is on hiatus through January. In early February, we’ll return with the 4th season of the Beaver State Podcast and with a special Book Club Episode with special guests Emily Weidner a biologist from Bend, Oregon, and fly fishing and fly-tying author John Shewey to cover the fascinating world of high-end fly tying.

How can you get involved?

Send us an email at [email protected], and let us know why you’d like to participate in the podcast. You’ll need to be able to travel to Bend, Oregon in late January to participate or be able to participate through a Zoom or other digital connection. But we’d love to have one representative of the podcast audience to be part of that book club conversation with us.

We’ll announce the next book in the series shortly after we publish the first book club podcast to give everyone enough time to read the next book.

In this last episode of Season 3 of the Beaver State Podcast, we delve into the stories of Oregon’s native minnows, especially the Oregon chub, arguably one of the most famous fish in the world as the first fish ever delisted from the federal Endangered Species List. We also touch on the more-recently delisted Borax Lake chub and some of the joys and challenges of working with these super-important fish that often go unnoticed by the general public and anglers alike. Our guest this week is USFWS Aquatic Ecologist Brian Bangs, who has a bend in the Willamette River named after him for the role he played in the recovery of the Oregon chub.

Questions/Ideas, email us - [email protected]

The Salmon Trout Enhancement Program, or S.T.E.P, has been around since the early 1980s, an effort by the Oregon State Legislature to put Oregonians more closely in touch with the management of natural resources, chiefly by way of allowing volunteers to help raise more fish. Like many programs, S.T.E.P has evolved over the years and now includes a strong educational component that brings salmon and trout eggs into classrooms, allowing students to see the salmon/trout lifecycle up close. Volunteering and education remain the two biggest aspects of the program as chat with program coordinator Marty Olson, former S.T.E.P biologist Karen Hans and current S.T.E.P biologist Gary Vonderohe. 

Sauvie Island may be the undisputed heavyweight of Oregon waterfowl hunting locations, but it isn't the only sweet spot in the state. Summer Lake, Klamath, the high desert, the Columbia and Willamette rivers and coastal estuaries all offer excellent waterfowl hunting opportunities if you're up for an adventure. ODFW's migratory gamebird coordinator Brandon Reishus takes us on a tour of Oregon's best waterfowl destinations in this week's episode. 

Want to leave us a note? email us at: [email protected]