Drawing from his most recent book, award winning author and photographer Tim Palmer will explain how our efforts to control floods through dam and levee construction have been inadequate. With graphic photos and engaging narrative, he will explain how the endless cycle of floods, damage, recovery, and repeated losses can best be ended through the protection of open space on floodplains and through voluntary relocation of homes from hazard-prone areas. He will show how the warming climate is making flood dangers worse, and how an improved response is essential if widespread disasters are to be avoided in the future.

Tim Palmer is a Penn State graduate in landscape architecture and has had 30 books published. His most recent, titled Seek Higher Ground: The Natural Solution to Our Urgent Flooding Crisis, is published by the University of California Press and is the focus of his talk. See his work at tim@timpalmer.org.