Future of Fire Workshop We invite participants to join us at the “Future of Fire” workshop aimed at advancing understanding of fire as an Earth system process, an ecological process, and an important agent of global change. Specific goals are to (1) identify the key questions and priorities for fire science research, especially regarding the interactions of fire with ecological processes from populations to ecosystem levels; (2) establish fire science as a central research area within basic science to better complement the applied aspects of fire ecology; and (3) find and promote areas of synergy among previously separate areas of fire science based within ecology but interacting with other disciplines.
The workshop is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and will be held on November 6-7, 2017, at the Chautauqua National Historic Landmark along the foothills of the Colorado Front Range near Boulder, Colorado. Support will be provided for travel, lodging, and meals for participating researchers from both the U.S. and other nations. The workshop will include a sequence of activities, beginning with short lightning talks for participants to introduce themselves and their perspective on key directions for fire science research. We will then form initial working groups to identify knowledge gaps and research priorities in specific areas of fire ecology. Finally, we will write a manuscript setting priorities for future fire science research. After the workshop, these priorities and new research connections among participants will enable significant further progress in understanding how fire may function in the future. We seek to include researchers working across a range of spatial and temporal scales, bringing experience from a variety of disciplinary perspectives (but connected with ecology), and representing fire regimes in most major biomes on Earth. Affiliations may include academic institutions, government agencies, or NGOs, and participants at all career levels are welcome. We are particularly supportive of early- to mid-career researchers. To apply, please go to https://goo.gl/forms/gdu65sfrtuwdFXLA3, and provide us with your name, affiliation, area of expertise within fire ecology, the primary spatial and temporal scales of your work, and any other insight you hope to contribute to or gain from the workshop. Thank you for your interest. Steering Committee: Kendra McLauchlan (Kansas State University) Brendan Rogers (Woods Hole Research Center) Jen Schweitzer (University of Tennessee) Alan Tepley (Smithsonian Institute) Tom Veblen (University of Colorado)
