Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment. A fire ecologist studies fire as a disturbance process in the environment.
A combination of curiosity, experience, and passion for what I enjoy are important for my research. I have had the opportunity to work on elite firefighting crews (Redding and Redmond hotshot crews). Those experiences were valuable exposure to fire. I also understand what managers in the field need to make their jobs easier. I work for them.
How do fuel treatments change wildfire behavior during extreme weather conditions?
I use computer models to simulate fuel treatment effects and wildfire behavior. The model grows trees and estimates fuel characteristics which influence fire behavior. In the model, I can remove trees to see how fire behavior changes.
My most exciting discovery was calculating the effects of thinning treatments, which most likely saved many homes in the 2011 Wallow Fire.
At first, I never had plans to attend college. Most of my classmates had joined the military, and I thought that was my only available option. It wasn’t until after I was accepted into graduate school that I knew I wanted to be a scientist.
