Translating first responder expertise: enhancing university wildfire management and communications
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. The series continues Tuesday, December 5 with a talk by Luisa Rapport of Stanford Emergency Services.
Abstract
The scale and impact of wildfires in California generates resource needs that can strain the state’s mutual aid system and has fundamentally changed the way responders and agency officials communicate with the public.
Lessons learned from communicating during some of the state’s most complex incidents is a valuable model for informing emergency communications planning for the Stanford community.
California wildfires have also outpaced vegetation management efforts in many areas. Important research can aid in improving these efforts, but is most effective when paired with the agencies and organizations responsible for planning and carrying out vegetation management projects.
Stanford’s fuel reduction efforts in areas such as the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve are providing a unique opportunity to connect local fire agencies with researchers in a living lab environment. Exploring the methods of fuels reduction and vegetation management used in the project areas will contribute to a better understanding of effective wildfire management.
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: Fueling fires: wildfire mitigation and wildfire behavior
Georgia Scarr, Bill Lane Center for the American West
November 14: Nonprofits and wildfire. The evolution 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.