Elwha restoration is subject of next SEF Science Café on Feb. 9

Andrew Ritchie, an Elwha Restoration Project hydrologist and geomorphologist for Olympic National Park, is the guest speaker for the next Science Café on Feb. 9.

February 3, 2016 9:30 am
Elwha restoration is subject of next SEF Science Café on Feb. 9

Andrew Ritchie is the Elwha Restoration Project hydrologist and geomorphologist for Olympic National Park.

Ritchie is the guest speaker for the next Science Café, presented by the Sequim Education Foundation, set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the Paradise Restaurant, 703 N. Sequim Ave.

Ritchie discusses the evolution of the Elwha River since the beginning of the biggest dam removal ever — four years of fluvial geomorphology in fast forward. He will talk about an aerial survey technique he developed along with other monitoring and give an overview of how much sediment was stored, eroded and deposited, changes in the river and at the mouth, and trends in turbidity/suspended sediment.

Ritchie grew up in the Olympic foothills outside of Port Angeles, where he spent a lot of time on the Elwha and developed a lifelong passion for exploring the natural world.

As project hydrologist for Olympic National Park, Ritchie keeps project managers and a multidisciplinary sediment team informed of the river’s response to dam removal and sediment release.

The Science Café is a community service of the Sequim Education Foundation. Programs present expert speakers for adult and young adult audiences interested in current developments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Science Café events are held on the second Tuesday of the month at the Paradise Restaurant. Admission is free and food and beverages are available for purchase.

Upcoming Science Café presentations include: March 8, “Reintroduction of Fishers in Olympic National Park” with Patti Happe; April 12, “OLYMPEX: A collaborative effort to study rain and snow on the Olympic Peninsula” with Angela Rowe; May 10, “Algae in Human Affairs: Blooms, Fuels and Carbon Capture” with Scott Edmundson, and “We Can See Science From Our House! Sequim Science Fair Club and Sequim High School FRC Robotics Team Present Their 2016 Research and Development Projects” with Sequim middle school and high school science students.

For more information about the Sequim Education Foundation, see www.sequimed.org.