S3:E2 Indigenous Engineering, TEK & Klamath River Restoration | Brook Thompson × Proven Sustainable

This long-form conversation brings together Brook Thompson and Dylan Aubrey (Yurok Tribe) as part of a three-part Proven Sustainable interview series exploring Indigenous leadership in sustainability, river restoration, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK).

Filmed for @ProvenSustainable, this episode centers Indigenous perspectives on environmental healing—specifically through salmon restoration, water policy, Indigenous engineering, and place-based knowledge systems rooted along the Klamath River.

Brook Thompson is a Yurok and Karuk environmental engineer and PhD researcher whose work bridges Western science with Indigenous epistemologies. In this conversation, Brook and Dylan discuss how sustainability efforts often fall short when Indigenous knowledge is treated as an “add-on” rather than the guiding framework—and how Indigenous-led restoration offers proven, long-term solutions for ecosystem health.

Key Topics Covered

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as a living, place-based system

Indigenous engineering and time-tested design practices

Klamath River dam removal and salmon recovery

Water policy, environmental justice, and Indigenous sovereignty

Why localized knowledge outperforms universalized restoration models

The relationship between ceremony, land stewardship, and healing

Indigenous leadership in sustainability and climate adaptation

This interview speaks directly to conversations happening across Indian Country, the global sustainability movement, and restoration science, highlighting how Indigenous nations—particularly the Yurok Tribe—have carried the knowledge needed to heal land and water since time immemorial.

🔗 Series & Related Links

This interview is part of a three-part Proven Sustainable series:

Learn more about Brook Thompson’s work:
👉 https://www.brookmthompson.com/

Explore the Proven Sustainable series page featuring Brook Thompson & Dylan Aubrey:
👉 https://provensustainable.org/blog/dylan-brook

Watch the full interview on YouTube:
👉 https://youtu.be/OPgyKBoaZtM

Why This Conversation Matters

As sustainability, climate resilience, and restoration gain global attention, this discussion challenges dominant systems to move beyond extraction-based thinking and toward relational models that recognize land, water, and living beings as relatives—not resources.

If you’re interested in Indigenous-led restoration, TEK, salmon recovery, river health, or decolonizing sustainability, this conversation offers both lived experience and technical insight from the front lines of environmental change

Written by Drum Circle News