What do roads have to do with ecology - a question for the ages! Join us as we discuss "Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet" with Ben Goldfarb. Written with passion and curiosity, "Crossings" is a sweeping, spirited, and timely investigation into how humans have altered the natural world―and how we can create a better future for all living beings.

 About Crossings:

An eye-opening and witty account of the global ecological transformations wrought by roads, from the award-winning author of Eager.

Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, but we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. In Crossings, Ben Goldfarb delves into the new science of road ecology to explore how roads have transformed our world. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the US alone, and roads fragment wildlife populations into inbred clusters, disrupt migration for creatures from antelope to salmon, allow invasive plants to spread, and even bend the arc of evolution itself.

But road ecologists are also seeking innovative solutions: Goldfarb meets with conservationists building bridges for mountain lions and tunnels for toads, engineers deconstructing logging roads, and citizens working to undo the havoc highways have wreaked upon cities. A sweeping, spirited, and timely investigation into how humans have altered the natural world, Crossings also shows us how to create a better future for all living beings.

About Ben:

Ben Goldfarb is the author of Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet (W.W. Norton & Co., September 2023). His previous book, Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, received the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. His work has appeared in publications including the Atlantic, Science, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. He lives in Colorado with his wife, Elise, and his dog, Kit — which is, of course, what you call a baby beaver.

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This program is hosted by the Ashland Public Library in partnership with other area libraries. Sponsored in part by the Friends of the West Newbury Library.