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Research Focus

People and Wildfire

Wildfire is partly a natural phenomenon and partly and human phenomenon and wildfire management is just as much about people as it is about vegetation or fire. People living in fire-prone areas often work with emergency managers, federal land management agencies, and local governments to improve readiness for, response to, and recovery from wildland fire.

We study the people side of wildfire management including individual and community actions before, during, and after fires. We examine collaborative wildfire planning, demographic trends, communication, public responses to fire fighting, and other aspects of changing wildfire policy.

Selected Research

• Improving the Process for Awarding Firefighting Helicopter Contracts
• Social Aspects of Creating Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs)
• Public Perceptions of Fire Mitigation on Public Lands
• What Can the U.S. Learn from the Australian Stay-and-Defend-or-Leave-Early Approach to Fighting Wildfires?
• Wildfire Management in Wildland-Urban Interface Areas