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Project ID:

24-3-01-7

Year:

2024

Date Started:

10/01/2024

Date Completed:

Title:

The North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange

Project Proposal Abstract:

Problem Statement
The North Atlantic region of the U.S. and Canada has a long-overlooked history of fire, a complex landscape, and incredibly rich opportunities for bringing fire science to the forefront of management. A Fire Science Exchange is needed to highlight our landscape history and use it to inform present-day management decisions, use fire science and collaboration tools to protect life and property, and connect researchers and practitioners to make the landscape safer and more resilient in the face of the changing climate.
Objectives
The North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange (NAFSE) was founded in 2013 to address these needs. Since that time, our Exchange has evolved and shifted its focus from products (e.g. research briefs, newsletters) to people (e.g. collaborations, fire science co-production). In 2023, after a decade of work, our objectives are to: (1) Advance a culture around fire science and management across the North Atlantic region; (2) Increase investment in sustaining and growing this culture; and (3) Advance safer and more resilient fire-adapted landscapes and communities. To accomplish this work, our primary activities include fire science communication products (e.g. social media, webinars); collaborations (e.g. Fueling Collaboration with other eastern U.S. Fire Science Exchanges); and facilitation of workshops that catalyze collaboration between fire scientists and managers on regionally-relevant topics (e.g. prescribed fire on private lands). Activities are detailed in the proposal body below.

Benefits
This work will benefit the government at the federal, state, and local levels. Because NAFSE is a cross-boundary, collaborative entity, we provide space for agency staff to connect with and learn from one another. For example, connections between the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, the USDA Forest Service, and Los Alamos National Laboratory led to fire physics models of a 2019 wildfire and an ongoing collaboration on ground-truthing these models with field experience. This, along with many other areas of fire science, benefit the public by providing relatable explanations for fire behavior and motives for using prescribed fire as a management tool. NAFSE activities build the connections that enhance science-driven management decisions. We will also address Secretarial priorities of workforce development and inclusion through our NJ Fire Camp, which connects the current and next generations of fire practitioners and scientists, and our Fire & Fire History Working Group, which is working to elevate Indigenous connections to the land and include these perspectives in the study of fire science and management decisions.

Principal Investigator:

Nicholas S. Skowronski

Agency/Organization:

Forest Service

Branch or Dept:

NRS-Northern Research Station

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Agreements Contact	Jerry S Elian	Forest Service	NRS-Northern Research Station
Budget Contact	Jerry S Elian	Forest Service	NRS-Northern Research Station
Co-Principal Investigator	Amanda M. Mahaffey	Forest Guild	Northeast Region
Co-Principal Investigator	Eric Evenson	Northeast Forest Fire Protection Compact
Co-Principal Investigator	Erin D. Lane	Forest Service	NRS-Northern Research Station