Wildland Fire Research at Stanford

Winter 2021-22
Wednesdays at 12:15 pm – Seminars are held via Zoom*

Join Center for Sustainability Data Science, the Woods Institute, Precourt, and The Bill Lane Center in this series of discussions at the intersection of wildland fire research and data science.

In recent years, wildfire has gone from an infrequent and distant news item to a centerstage issue spanning many consecutive weeks for urban and suburban communities.

Frequent wildfires are changing everyday lives for California in numerous ways -- from public safety power shutoffs to hazardous air quality -- that seemed inconceivable as recently as 2015. Moreover, elevated wildfire risk in the western United States (and similar climates globally) is here to stay into the foreseeable future.

There are a plethora of problems that need solutions in the wildland fire arena; many of them are well suited to a data-driven approach. In this seminar series, we will hear from several Stanford researchers and industry experts about current problems of interest in wildfires. Each speaker will present a particular problem of interest, followed by a Q&A session in hopes of creating a dialogue about wildland fire research and finding creative solutions.

Current Series (YouTube Playlist)

January 12, 2022: “Wildfire mitigation and protection: Which expenses make the most sense?”
              View on YouTube
              Michael Wara
              Climate and Energy Policy Program, Stanford Woods Institute
              Link to event

January 19, 2022: “Climate Change, wildfires, and the impacts on health”
              View on YouTube
              Mary Prunicki
              Sean Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research
              Link to event             

January 26, 2022: “Strategies, Approaches & Tools – Addressing Wildfire Risk & Climate Change Risk in PG&E’s Service Territory”
              View on YouTube
              Andy Abranches
              Wildfire Risk Management and Enterprise Risk Management, PG&E
              Link to event

February 2, 2022: “Approaches to constructing a historical database of wildfire evacuation orders”
              View on YouTube
              Sam Heft-Neal
              Center on Food Security and the Environment
              Link to event

February 9, 2022: “Improving the Fidelity of Coupled Atmosphere-Fire Simulations to Manage Our Fiery Future”
              View on YouTube
              Jeff Mirocha
              Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
              Link to event

February 16, 2022: “Responding to Wildfires”
              View on YouTube
              Luke Beckman
              American Red Cross
              Link to event

February 23, 2022: “Evaluating the effectiveness of interventions in reducing exposure to wildfire smoke among low-income hard-to-reach populations”
              View on YouTube
              Gabrielle Wong-Parodi
              School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences
              Link to event

March 2, 2022: “Firewise Communities in California”
              View on YouTube
              Rebecca Miller
              University of Southern California
              Link to event

March 9, 2022: “Stanford Wildfire Management Plan”
              View on YouTube
              Scott Conway
              Vibrant Planet
               Tania Treis
              Panorama Environmental, Inc.
              Jessica von Borck
              Stanford Land Use Planning
              Aaron McCarthy
              Stanford Environmental Health and Safety
              Link to event
 

Past Series

Spring 2020-21
Mondays at 12:30pm

April 5, 2021: “Simultaneous management of fire risk, carbon storage, and human and ecosystem co-benefits”
              View on YouTube
              Prof. Chris Field
              Director, Woods Institute on the Environment
              Link to event

April 12, 2021: “Zombie Forests: Fire Risk of the Standing Dead in the Sierra Nevada”
              View on YouTube
              Avery Hill
              PhD Candidate, Dept. of Biology
              Link to event

April 19, 2021: “Data-Driven vegetation moisture as a tool for mapping wildfire risk in the western US”
              View on YouTube
              Krishna Rao
              PhD Candidate, Dept. of Earth Systems Science
              Link to event

April 26, 2021: “Health Impacts of Smoke Exposure: What do we know?”
              View on YouTube
              Dr. Mary Prunicki
              Sr. Research Scientist, Sean Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research
              Link to event

May 3, 2021: “The Clean Air Act and wildfire smoke: What are the options?”
              View on YouTube
              Dr. Michael Wara
              Director, Climate and Energy Policy Program
              Link to event

May 10, 2021: “Better measures of outdoor and indoor exposure to wildfire smoke”
              View on YouTube
              Prof. Marshall Burke
              Deputy Director, Center on Food Security and the Environment
              Sam Heft-Neal
              Research Scholar at the Center on Food Security and the Environment
              Link to event

May 17, 2021: “Trends in California Wildfire-related Legislature, 2001-2020”
             View on YouTube
              Rebecca Miller
              PhD Candidate, Emmettt Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources
              Link to event

May 24, 2021: “Using public records to study wildfires”
              View on Youtube
              Dr. Iris Hui
              Senior Researcher with the Bill Lane Center
              Link to event

*For seminar/zoom information, please contact Derek Fong at dfongatstanforddotedu