Managing Mississippi and Missouri River Landscapes: A Conversation with Kenneth R. Olson

Abstract

This interview with Kenneth R. Olson discusses the scientific and practical importance of Managing Mississippi and Missouri River Landscapes. The conversation places the Mississippi-Missouri river system within a broader socio-ecological frame: floods, levees, agricultural floodplains, soil erosion, navigation, sediment movement, freshwater degradation, and public health vulnerability. Olson explains how long-term field observations and case studies from the Middle Mississippi River and the New Madrid Floodway to comparisons with the Kakhovka Dam breach in Ukraine - show that river systems cannot be understood as engineering structures alone. They are living landscapes in which hydrology, soil, land use, policy, and community risk are tightly connected. The interview argues for resilient river management that combines flood protection, ecological restoration, agricultural adaptation, and careful attention to the long-term consequences of pollution and environmental disturbance