Join Leila Philip for a fascinating discussion all about beavers featuring her new book. An intimate and revelatory dive into the world of the beaver—the wonderfully weird rodent that has surprisingly shaped American history and may save its ecological future.
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From award-winning writer Leila Philip, Beaverland is a masterful work of narrative science writing, a book that highlights, though history and contemporary storytelling, how this weird rodent plays an oversized role in American history and its future. She follows fur trappers who lead her through waist high water, fur traders and fur auctioneers, as well as wildlife managers, PETA activists, Native American environmental vigilantes, scientists, engineers, and the colorful group of activists known as beaver believers.
Beginning with the early trans-Atlantic trade in North America, Leila Philip traces the beaver’s profound influence on our nation’s early economy and feverish western expansion, its first corporations and multi-millionaires. In her pursuit of this weird and wonderful animal, she introduces us to people whose lives are devoted to the beaver, including a Harvard scientist from the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, who uses drones to create 3-dimensional images of beaver dams; and an environmental restoration consultant in the Chesapeake whose nickname is the “beaver whisperer”.
What emerges is a poignant personal narrative, a startling portrait of the secretive world of the contemporary fur trade, and an engrossing ecological and historical investigation of these heroic animals who, once trapped to the point of extinction, have returned to the landscape as one of the greatest conservation stories of the 20th century. Beautifully written and impeccably researched, Beaverland reveals the profound ways in which one odd creature and the trade surrounding it has shaped history, culture, and our environment.
Leila Philip is the author of award-winning books of nonfiction that have received national glowing reviews. A Guggenheim Fellow, she has also been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Philip was a contributing columnist at the Boston Globe and teaches in the Environmental Studies Program at the College of the Holy Cross, where she is a professor in the English Department.
Aaron Lefland joined the Connecticut Land Conservation Council in May of 2022 as the organization’s first Deputy Director. Aaron is passionate about building strong, enduring land trusts that support the needs of their communities. He was a co-recipient of the 2023 Linda B. Krause Award for Excellence in Conservation Collaboration from CT RC&D for building partnerships with community foundations, land trusts, nonprofits, and housing groups to explore opportunities for sustainable and affordable housing in Connecticut. Aaron holds a Master of Forest Science from the Yale School of the Environment, where his coursework and research focused on the sustainable management of New England’s forests. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Environmental Studies from Brandeis University. In his free time, Aaron can be found hiking, rock climbing, skiing, swimming, gardening, foraging, or otherwise enjoying the great outdoors.
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