In Season 8, Episode 3, host Sarah Thorne and Amanda Tritinger, Deputy National Lead of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Program, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), are joined by Brian Davis, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia (UVA), and Cathy Johnson, Coastal Ecologist, Northeast Region, National Park Service (NPS). Along with their colleagues and collaborators, Brian and Cathy are working with nature and incorporating innovative nature-based...

In Season 8, Episode 2, host Sarah Thorne and Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Program, USACE, welcome back Dr. Christopher Lemon, a physician and Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine; Faculty Codirector of Clinical Programs with the Institute for Planetary Health; and Fellow with the Bloomberg American Health Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In Episode 1, we talked with Chris about his...

After another summer of sweltering heat, extreme flooding, and in several places, unprecedented forest fires, we're thinking even more about climate change and about the nexus of climate change and health. In S8 E1, host Sarah Thorne and Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Program, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), are joined by Dr. Christopher Lemon, a physician and Asst. Professor, Dept. of Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine; Faculty Co-Director of...

As summer wanes and we celebrate back-to-school time with students, parents, and our friends in academia, we’re pleased to launch Season 8 of the Engineering With Nature® Podcast! Host Sarah Thorne recently caught up with Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Program, to discuss what the EWN Team has been up to over the summer, share some highlights from Season 7, and offer a glimpse of what’s ahead in Season 8. As Jeff describes, the EWN Team has had a busy summer...

The Arctic is changing more rapidly than anywhere else on earth due to climate change, and this is profoundly impacting the people that live in and depend on the ecosystems in these cold regions. In Season 7, Episode 13, host Sarah Thorne and cohost Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Program, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), welcome back Laura Wendling, Senior Research Scientist at SINTEF Community in Trondheim, Norway. We continue our conversation on how...

From Iowa to Australia to Finland, and most recently Norway, Laura Wendling has followed her passion to integrate nature with engineering and technology to create solutions that, as she says, “are workable in lots of different situations, including cold regions.” In Season 7, Episode 12, host Sarah Thorne and cohost Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Program, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), are joined by Laura Wendling, Senior Research Scientist at SINTEF...

In Season 7, Episode 11, host Sarah Thorne and cohost Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Program, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), conclude their in-depth conversation with Katharine Hayhoe, Chief Scientist of The Nature Conservancy (TNC). In Part 3 of our special three-part series, Katharine talks about her role as an advocate and her mission to inspire others to take action on climate change. Her bottom line is that you don’t have to be a top climate scientist...

In Season 7, Episode 10, host Sarah Thorne and cohost Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Program, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), continue their in-depth conversation with Katharine Hayhoe, Chief Scientist of The Nature Conservancy (TNC). In Part 2 of our special 3-part series, Katharine talks about taking action—living according to your values and making changes that contribute to climate solutions—and about the critical role of nature-based solutions (NBS) in...

Katharine Hayhoe is a world-renowned scientist, climate communicator, and passionate advocate for climate equity. She’s a climate ambassador whose message is one of hope. She has dedicated her life to motivating action. Every day. In Season 7, Episode 9, Katharine Hayhoe, Chief Scientist of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) joins host Sarah Thorne and cohost Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Program, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), for a conversation on climate...

How do we think about forests and their value? We know that forests store carbon, and with the climate changing, many might think the answer is to just plant more trees. Our guests challenge that conventional wisdom and, as the saying goes, help us see the forest for the trees. In Season 7, Episode 8, host Sarah Thorne and cohost Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Program, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), are joined by Laurie Wayburn, Cofounder and President of...

Imagine restoring a 51-mile-long concrete river—running through the heart of the Los Angeles Basin in California—into a vibrant corridor reconnecting fractured communities and ecosystems. In Season 7, Episode 7, host Sarah Thorne and cohost Amanda Tritinger from the US Army Corps of Engineers talk with landscape architects Alex Robinson from University of Southern California (USC) and Leslie Dinkin from the Kounkuey Design Initiative in Los Angeles. They discuss the use of storytelling,...

Imagine the possibilities if brilliant scientists and engineers could figure out how to use natural materials like silt and clay, dredged from waterways, to make nature-inspired, 3D printed structures like reefs and roots to restore habitat and protect coastal shorelines. In Season 7, Episode 6, host Sarah Thorne is joined by Al Kennedy, Burton Suedel, and Andrew McQueen from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). All three are Research...

Innovation and collaboration are cornerstones of Engineering With Nature (EWN). Sharing projects, demonstrating outcomes, and inspiring practitioners around the world is an important part of advancing EWN. The EWN Atlas series, initiated in 2018, has been key to showcasing the incredible work happening around the world. Season 7, Episode 5, kicks off the launch of EWN Atlas, Volume 3. Host Sarah Thorne is joined by cohost Burton Suedel, Research Biologist at the Engineer Research and...

It’s old home week and time to get the original EWN Podcast gang back together. In Season 7, Episode 4, host Sarah Thorne is joined by cohost Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature Program (EWN), and our friend, colleague, and inspiration behind the Engineering With Nature Program, Todd Bridges. Todd is now Professor of Practice in Resilient and Sustainable Systems in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia (UGA). A lot has happened since February of 2023 when...

Our guest is a scientist and innovator who brings new thinking and new applications of nature-based solutions (NBS) into her work every day. In Season 7, Episode 3, host Sarah Thorne is joined by cohost Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature Program (EWN), and Julie Beagle, Environmental Planning Section Chief for the USACE San Francisco District. Julie joined USACE three years ago desiring to make the biggest impact possible. Jeff notes that, since then, Julie’s leadership...

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are of growing interest in many parts of the world as scientists, engineers, policymakers, and others look for new ways to address climate change challenges. In S7, E2, host Sarah Thorne is joined by EWN cohosts Burton Suedel, and Amanda Tritinger. Their guest is Paul Cruz, Sr. Program Manager in International and Interagency Services in the USACE’s Pacific Ocean Division. They’re talking about advancing NBS by building relationships with colleagues in the Pacific...

Welcome to a new season of the EWN Podcast! Our guest has a bold vision for natural, holistic land management. He's not just thinking about how water harvesting and land management can complement or even replace traditional water resources engineering, he's putting it into practice. In Season 7, Episode 1, host Sarah Thorne is joined by cohost Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature Program, and Ricardo Aguirre, Director of Land Management and Water Security for WEST...

It’s a new year and we’re kicking off a new season of the Engineering With Nature® Podcast! Season 7 launches on January 24. Host Sarah Thorne recently caught up with Jeff King, National Lead of the Engineering With Nature Program, to discuss highlights from Season 6 and give us a glimpse of what’s ahead. The EWN Podcast launched in July 2020, and as Jeff notes, “One of the biggest highlights has certainly been the number of listeners that are coming to our space. For those out there,...

Can nature make us happier, healthier and more creative? The simple answer is yes … and it’s been scientifically proven. In Season 6, Episode 10, hosts Sarah Thorne and Jeff King, Lead of the Engineering With Nature® Program, USACE, welcome Florence Williams, a renowned journalist, author, speaker, and podcaster who spent over three years traveling around the world talking with leading scientists about how to quantify the benefits of nature on people’s health and well-being. Florence joins us...

The USACE dredges more than 200 million cubic yards of sediments every year as part of their mission to ensure that ports and waterways remain open to traffic. In S5E6, we talked with Lt. Gen. Spellman, the 55th Chief of Engineers and the Commanding General of USACE, about his 70/30 goal to increase the beneficial use of these sediment from about 30% up to 70% by the year 2030. Supporting the USACE environmental protection and restoration missions, this ambitious goal calls for innovative...

What happens when a world-renowned landscape architect from Thailand comes to the United States as Designer-in-Residence to work with an award-winning architect whose passion is what he defines as watershed architecture? It has been a year since Season 4, Episode 10 when we first asked that question of our guests, and now it’s time for an update. Hosts Sarah Thorne and Jeff King, Lead of the Engineering With Nature® Program at the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), welcome back Kotchakorn...

If you've ever walked along a beach, you’ve likely noticed the dunes, the mounds of sand that have been formed by the wind. But have you ever thought about what those dunes do and how important they are? Perhaps not; our guests certainly have. In Season 6, Episode 7, host Sarah Thorne is joined by cohost Amanda Tritinger, Deputy Lead of the Engineering with Nature Program, and her US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) colleagues Duncan Bryant, Research Hydraulic Engineer, and Nick Cohn, Research...

This episode starts with a story. In 1604, 79 members of an expedition from France, including Samuel de Champlain, came to Saint Croix Island off the shores of Maine and New Brunswick to set up a colony in the new land. They called it l’Acadie—Acadia. Over the severe winter of 1604 to 1605, 35 of the settlers died, likely of scurvy. In the spring, members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe befriended the French survivors and brought them food; and, ultimately, their health improved. In the summer of...

As fall gets into full swing, we’re kicking off the second half of Season 6 of the EWN Podcast by talking with members of the EWN leadership team about what they’ve been working on and what’s ahead. In Episode 5, host Sarah Thorne is joined by cohost Jeff King, National Lead of the EWN; cohost Amanda Tritinger, Deputy Program Manager, EWN; and Courtney Chambers, Communications Lead, EWN. The summer of 2023 was an unprecedented summer in many ways. As Sarah notes, “Mother Nature certainly...