Please note that Zoom participation requires a SUNET ID. Non-Stanford attendees should contact Derek Fong (dfong@stanford.edu) for access.
This seminar is part of the fall 2023/2024 Wildland Fire Seminar Series, co-sponsored by the Bill Lane Center for the American West, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford Sustainability Data Science, and Woods Institute for the Environment. In the series, we will hear from a spectrum of researchers, decision makers, and industry experts on some important issues and challenges related to wildland fires. This talk will be led by Maria Santos from the University of Zurich.
Abstract:
The interaction between fire and humans has a long history and fire has enabled the persistence of ecosystems and humans alike. Yet, as fires of large magnitudes and frequencies can (and have) destabilized the social-ecological interactions mediated by fire and the processes they support, a novel understanding is needed to create ‘room for the fire’ under the new environmental and social conditions. In this talk I will examine how this can be achieved in fire dependent social-ecological systems. First, I will review the role of fire in ecosystem resilience by taking a closer look at fire adapted Mediterranean type ecosystems. I will show how state-of-the-art technology can help us monitor and understand ecological processes dependent on a fire regime, taking two examples: Portugal and California. I will then explore how social processes and human encroachment in the landscape could have affected these dynamics over time. Finally I will zoom out to fire as a requirement for energy solutions and how this may require a new way of living with fire. All these results require adjusting the way we address fire mediated social-ecological interactions.
WILDLAND FIRE SEMINAR SERIES
Fall Quarter 2023-24
Tuesdays s at 12:30 p.m. - Seminars via Zoom
October 3: Understanding the wildfire insurance challenge in California: from individual structures to the global reinsurance market
Michael Wara, Doerr School of Sustainability
October 10: Fire as a social-ecological system
Maria Santos, University of Zurich
October 17: Firetech: Using technology to address our wildfire crisis
Bill Clerico, Convective Capital
October 24: The Importance, Challenges, and Opportunities for Enabling Aerial Firefighting in Degraded Visual Environments
Mark Bathrick, Bathrick Aviation Consulting
October 31: Evolution of PG&E Wildfire Mitigation Efforts – 2019 to 2023
Andy Abranches, PG&E
November 7: Wildfire miBgaBon and wildfire behavior Georgia Scarr, Eco Circle Interna;onal
November 14: Nonprofits and wildfire. The evoluBon of the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council: From hazardous fuels reduction to technology leader
Seth Schalet, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council
November 28: X-ray measurements to understand the science of fire spread by ember transport
Matthias Ihme, Department of Mechanical Engineering
December 5: Translating First Responder Expertise – Enhancing university wildfire management and communications
Luisa Rapport, Stanford Emergency Services
This seminar series is co-sponsored by The Bill Lane Center for the America West, Woods Institute for the Environment, Center for Sustainability Data Science, and the Wildland Fire Challenge.