Virtual Café – Fire Management at Field Stations

Within the community of biological field stations, we don’t need to debate whether climate change is real as we see the local impacts in real time. Among the most dramatic changes is the global and local increase in frequency and intensity of fires as well as the associated increasing length of the fire season.  For biological field stations, this raises a host of significant challenges that can potentially compromise the integrity of the biological resources we try to protect as well as on-going research and educational activities. This is true whether the station is in a remote location or in an urban/wildland transition zone. So, what kinds of tools and strategies should we be considering to mitigate fire risk and recovery from fire?

Perhaps more than ever, it is important that field stations share what they know, what they are trying, and how they think about living in a time of increasing fire risk and impact. Whether you have thought about these issues or not, this is a virtual café you will not want to miss. This discussion will be led by a panel of field station managers/directors with a range of experiences managing fire risk and recovery.

Panelists will include representatives from the following field stations (from east to west):

• Mpala Research Station, Laikipia County, Kenya
• University of Ioannina Palase Field Research Station, Zagori, Greece
• Iracambi Research Center, Minas Gerais, Brazil
• Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA
• Quesnel River Research Centre, British Columbia, Canada
• Pepperwood Preserve, California, USA

Some of the kinds of issues/questions that will be addressed include:

• Policies for use/prevention;
• Warning systems;
• Plans/Strategies for recovery;
• What sorts of strategies have NOT worked.

This will be a 90-minute Virtual Cafe that will include 5-to-10-minute presentations from the panelists followed by questions from those attending. Zoom link