Politics, Markets, and Engineers in Destroying and Restoring the American River: From George Washington to George Bush Rivers Shaped Our Past, Shaping Our Future, Speaker Says They have shaped and been shaped by politics and economies. They influenced colonial settlement, drove Northern-Southern sectionalism and encouraged pork-barrel politics. More recently, they have been at the center of environmental legislation. “Rivers, perhaps more than any other natural resource or landscape feature,” says Martin Doyle, environmental geographer at the University of North Carolina, “are the significant thread weaving through U.S. history.” Doyle will examine the history of river engineering and river policy in the U.S., as part of this year’s EarthTalks Fall Colloquium, “Quenching the Thirst: Managing the Water Resources of a Changing Planet.” (Javascript is required to view Mediasite content)