Matt Whitbeck, Blackwater wildlife biologist, talks management in a migrating marsh

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Click here to listen to our conversation with Matt Whitbeck.

Matt Whitbeck, Wildlife Biologist at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

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In this episode, we’re joined by Matt Whitbeck. He’s the Wildlife Biologist at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, a beautiful expanse of coastal marsh on the Chesapeake in Maryland that’s facing the consequences of rising sea levels and climate change head on.

The changes to the landscape are forcing Matt and his colleagues to ask questions about conservation that they’ve never asked before. How do you protect the plants and wildlife on the landscape, when much of that very landscape is slipping underwater?

We talk with Matt about how he’s answering that question, how his understanding of conservation is changing in doing so, and how the marsh landscape at Blackwater can be a vivid example of what climate change will really mean for our coasts. 

Click here to download the full interview transcription

Story Tags

Climate change
Endangered and/or Threatened species
Invasive species
Salt marshes
Wetland restoration