Brian Graber
Director, River Restoration Program, Northeast Region
Department: Conservation
Area of Focus: Brian provides technical services and programmatic capacity building assistance to restore river habitat through stream barrier removals throughout the Northeast.
Background: Brian joined American Rivers in May 2007. He is a fluvial geomorphologist and water resources engineer who specializes in river habitat restoration. Prior to working at American Rivers, he was the River Restoration Scientist at the Massachusetts Riverways Program, where he helped guide the development of the state's River Restoration Priority Project Program. He previously coordinated Trout Unlimited's Small Dams Program, which worked closely with American Rivers to remove obsolete dams that do more harm than good. He has also worked as a self-employed consultant, designing dam removal channel restoration, completing watershed assessments, and implementing dam removal project monitoring at projects in Wisconsin, Vermont and New Hampshire.
Education: B.A. in Geography at Dartmouth College, M.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering (hydrology) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and M.S. in Geography (fluvial geomorphology) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Favorite River: Deerfield River
Blog Posts By This Author
The Fish are Back!
April 19, 2013 | Dams & Dam Removal
After 200 years, river herring have been spotted in the Mill River above the Hopewell Mills dam. The Division of Marine Fisheries recently set up a video monitoring station at Reed and Barton, and have been recording a stream of video footage.
Read more »River Impossible: The Hazard of Whittenton Dam and the Mill River Restoration
February 26, 2013 | Dams & Dam Removal, Floods & Floodplains, Wild and Scenic Rivers
In 2005, the Whittenton Dam nearly failed, forcing 2,000 people to evacuate homes and businesses in downtown Taunton, Massachusetts. As the Mill River swelled around the dilapidated dam, senators, a governor, and CNN gathered and assessed the site. The dam was built to power a mill more than a century before, but it hadn’t served that purpose for decades. But like so many other dams, it remained in the river, a hazard that was nearly realized.
Read more »Hurricane Sandy update from Darby Creek, Pennsylvania
October 29, 2012 | Dams & Dam Removal, Floods & Floodplains
Some American Rivers staff was in the field earlier today, checking out a dam removal project site on Darby Creek, near Philadelphia, PA. They shared two videos from the site, amidst the early winds and rain from advancing Hurricane Sandy. American Rivers is working to remove four barriers in the creek and promote green infrastructure in nearby communities to restore habitat, reduce flooding, and improve clean water.
Read more »River Restoration Creates Jobs
May 10, 2012 | Dams & Dam Removal
It takes a lot of professionals to remove a dam and restore a river. Along with the project management and other technical assistance that we do at American Rivers, we and our project partners hire ecologists, engineers, geomorphologists, historians, archaeologists, accountants, lawyers, excavator operators, construction superintendents, and truck drivers to complete all of the scientific analysis, engineering design, permitting, contract management, and construction work necessary to complete dam removal projects.
Read more »Removing Dufresnse Dam on the Battenkill will restore trout habitat
May 1, 2012 | Dams & Dam Removal
Brian Graber of our River Restoration Program tours the Dufresne Dam site on the Battenkill in Manchester, Vermont, which is planned for removal in summer 2012.
Read more »