Green Drinks: How Are Our River Critters Post-Helene and How Can We Help Them?

Join Luke Etchinson, Aquatic Wildlife Diversity Coordinator at N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, for a dive into the current status of mussels, fishes, crayfishes, and their habitats in the French Broad River watershed following Helene. Luke will be discussing the impacts of loss of habitat on our rivers and what is being done to protect and restore this habitat.

Luke Etchison is a river conservation biologist for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and Past-President of the North Carolina Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. He has been with the NCWRC since 2016 and is responsible for conservation and monitoring of mussels, crayfishes, native fishes, and aquatic snails in the New, Savannah, Little Tennessee, Hiwassee, French Broad, and Watauga watersheds in NC. Luke received a B.S. in Aquatic and Fisheries Biology, M.S. in Aquatic Biology, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Ball State University, where he was involved in research on everything aquatic from insects to fishes. His dissertation focused on large river fish communities and their response to habitat change over time. Luke lives in East Asheville on the Swannanoa River.

You may also like the following events from Conserving Carolina:

• This month, 22nd July, 12:30 pm, Hendersonville Community Co-Op Kudzu Patch Volunteer Workday in Hendersonville
• This month, 26th July, 09:00 am, New Adventures, New Moments: Walk at Dupont Forest in Asheville