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Tag: Alison Cullen

New Research: Self-perception of Climate Vulnerability Among Fishing Communities of the U.S. West Coast

A study conducted in partnership between The Nature Conservancy and the University of Washington was published today in the journal PLOS Climate. Led by Dr. Laura Nelson, the study asked fishers operating in the California Current along Washington, Oregon and California, about their perceptions of climate vulnerability, inquiring about the degree to which they felt that they are personally, and the industry is able to respond and adapt to climate change.

This article is part of an ongoing research series funded by Lenfest Ocean Programs and spearheaded by Dr. Phillip Levin at The Nature Conservancy and University of Washington, and Dr. Alison Cullen, University of Washington, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying the social and ecological vulnerability of fishing communities along the U.S. West Coast to changing ocean conditions.

The study provides a previously missing piece of the insight into climate communications, potential barriers to adaptation, and approaches for equitable and effective climate adaptation in the fisheries industry. Researchers surveyed 162 respondents working in fisheries across California, Oregon, and Washington and found that perceptions of climate vulnerability differed widely based on fundamental beliefs about whether or not climate change is occurring, and that people who fished on larger vessels felt they had a greater ability to adapt to climate change. In addition to climate impacts, survey respondents named operational costs, regulations, and habitat loss as key concerns; factors that if left unaddressed could present barriers to long-term adaptation.

Perceptions of climate vulnerability play an important role in behavior and will be a factor in how and to what extent individuals take action to adapt to climate change. Insight into these perceptions can be applied to climate communications within the fisheries industry as well, as policy actions that improve the ability of fishers to adapt to climate change can increase overall resilience, and the benefits outside of climate adaption need to be clearly articulated. As the industry and fisheries management work to support fishers in the future, understanding the concerns of fishers and how they perceive climate risks is valuable and essential to inform climate adaptation efforts moving forward.

This paper builds on recent research also conducted by the TNC and UW partnership and published in PLOS One, which developed a framework to assess community vulnerability by quantitively analyzing factors such as species exposure and sensitivity to changes in climate, economic reliance, and community social factors that are indicators of a communities’ ability to adapt to climate change.

Together, these studies provide a holistic understanding of climate vulnerability and adaptation potential for the fisheries industry in the California Current which fisheries managers and regional governing bodies can apply to create equitable and effective climate adaptation measures that benefit both people and marine ecosystems.

Alison Cullen Leads Research on Wildfire Risk

Alison Cullen, the Daniel J. Evans Endowed Professor of Environmental Policy at the Evans School, along with researchers from University of Washington, NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), and University of California, Merced, leads an NSF-funded project titled, ”Managing Future Risk of Increasing Simultaneous Megafires,“ that explores the challenges megafires currently pose to decision makers and stakeholders, and supports proactive planning for future scenarios to mitigate risk. This interdisciplinary research team brings expertise in decision science, climate science, statistics, and fire science to collaborations with a host of decision makers including fire managers, fire ecologists, and land managers for tribal and U.S. government agencies.  

Emblematic of this work have been two recent co-authored publications the explore wildfire risk and managements strategies. In June 2022, Evans Ph.D. student Sunniva Bloem, along with Cullen and co-authors, published an article, “The Role of International Resource Sharing Arrangements in Managing Fire in the Face of Climate Change,” in the journal, Fire. Longer and more impactful fire seasons are proving to outstrip national fire suppression capacity in many settings, which have led to resource sharing arrangements between countries across the globe. The authors explore the recent emergence of these partnerships and identify paths to strengthening cross-national resource sharing agreements. 

More recently, Cullen contributed to the work of a large team that published an article entitled, “Reimagine Fire Science for the Anthropocene,“ in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Nexus. Amidst rising fire dangers globally, the article develops a cross-disciplinary research agenda essential to improving mitigation of and response to an “increasingly flammable world.” 

Alison Cullen helps strengthen EPA Science Advisory Board peer review process

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In the news this past week was the work of the Environmental Protection Agency ‘s Science Advisory Board, which is chaired by the Daniel J. Evans Endowed Professor of Environmental Policy Alison Cullen. Professor Cullen and the Advisory Board have been working with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan of the Biden-Harris Administration to strengthen processes that “restore opportunities for peer review and strengthen the independence of the board,” as it works with the EPA. Of central importance here is the establishment of a Science Advisory Board Working Group led by Professor Cullen that will meet with EPA staff to provide timely expert advice relevant to scientific and technical information guiding EPA policy, rule-making, or enforcement decisions.  

Links to the EPA news release related to this can be found here, as well as a news story describing this work.  

Managing Future Risk of Increasing Simultaneous Megafires

This research effort tackles the challenges that simultaneous megafires currently pose to decision makers and stakeholders, and supports proactive planning for future scenarios to mitigate risk (NSF Growing Convergence Research #2019762). Megafires are fires that are unusually large or that require a complex and aggressive firefighting response because of dramatic threats to lives, property, and/or infrastructure. When multiple megafires occur simultaneously, firefighting resources may be strained beyond capacity with catastrophic results. To successfully advance the frontiers of fire science and management to mitigate risk at the intersection of natural and human systems, we are developing a highly convergent approach in a team comprised of researchers from University of Washington, NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), and University of California, Merced. We bring expertise in decision science, climate science, statistics, and fire science to our collaboration with on the ground decision makers including fire managers, fire ecologists, and land managers for tribal and US government agencies.

We aim to strengthen risk management related to wildfire impacts with improved climate projections in support of decisions regarding land use, fuel and land management, and wildfire suppression, thereby helping to safeguard against the future loss of life, property, infrastructure, and natural resources.

Please contact Alison Cullen alison@uw.edu with questions or to inquire about partnership opportunities.

Data Visualizations

W Logo

Publications

Peer Reviewed:

    1. Cullen AC, Goldgeier B, Abatzoglou JT, Belval E (2024) Characterising ignition precursors associated with high levels of deployment of wildland fire personnel. International Journal of Wildland Fire 33, WF23182.
    2. McGinnis, S., Kessenich, L., Mearns, L., Cullen, A., Podschwit, H., & Bukovsky, M. (2023). Future regional increases in simultaneous large Western USA wildfires. International Journal Of Wildland Fire, 32, 1304-1314.
    3. Kolden, C. A., Abatzoglou, J. T., Jones, M. W., & Jain, P. (2024). Wildfires in 2023. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 5(4), 238–240.
    4.  Swain, D. L., Abatzoglou, J. T., Kolden, C., Shive, K., Kalashnikov, D. A., Singh, D., & Smith, E. (2023). Climate change is narrowing and shifting prescribed fire windows in western United States. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), 340.
    5. Humphrey R, Saltenberger J, Abatzoglou J, Cullen A, 2024, Near-term fire weather forecasting in the Pacific Northwest using 500-hPa map types, International Journal of Wildland Fire, 33(5). Winner of the William M. Zumeta Doctoral Research Award 2024 University of Washington.
    6. Stoof, C.R., de Vries, J.R., Ribau, M.C., Fernandez, M.F., Flores, D., Villamar, J.G., Kettridge, N., Lartey, D., Moore, P.F., Thacker, F.N., Prichard, S.J., Tersmette, P., Tuljtel, S., Verhaar, I., and Fernandes, P.M. 2024. Megafire: An ambiguous and emotive term best avoided by science. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33: 341-351.
    7. Bloem S, Cullen AC, Abatzoglou JT, Mearns LO, Belval E, 2024, Drivers of international fire management personnel deployed to the United States, International Journal of Wildland Fire, WF23093.
    8. Skinner H, Prichard SJ, Cullen AC, 2024, Decision Support for Landscapes with High Fire Hazard and Competing Values at Risk: The Upper Wenatchee Pilot Project, Fire 2024, 7(3), 77
    9. Abatzoglou JT, McEvoy DJ, Nauslar NJ, Hegewisch KC, Huntington JL (2023) Downscaled subseasonal fire danger forecast skill across the contiguous United States, Atmospheric Science Letters.
    10. McGinnis S, Kessenich L, Mearns L, Cullen A, Podschwit H, Bukovsky M (2023) Future regional increases in simultaneous large Western USA wildfires, International Journal of Wildland Fire (2023).
    11. Abatzoglou, J. T., Kolden, C. A., Williams, A. P., Sadegh, M., Balch, J. K., & Hall, A. (2023). Downslope wind-driven fires in the western United States. Earth’s Future, 11, e2022EF003471.
    12. Cullen AC, Prichard SJ, Abatzoglou JT, Dolk A, Kessenich L, Bloem S, Bukovsky MS, Humphrey R, McGinnis S, Skinner H, Mearns LO.  Growing convergence research: Coproducing climate projections to inform proactive decisions for managing simultaneous wildfire risk, Risk Analysis (2023).
    13. Kalashnikov DA, Abatzoglou JT, Nauslar NJ, Swain DL, Touma D, and Singh D. (2022) Meteorological and geographical factors associated with dry lightning in central and northern California Environ Res: Climate
    14. D’Evelyn, S., Jung, J., Alvarado, E., Baumgartner, J., Caligiuri, P. Hagmann, K., Henderson, S., Hessburg, P., Hopkins, S., Kasner, E., Krawchuk, M., Krenz, J., Lydersen, J., Marlier, M.,  Masuda, Y., Metlen, K., Mittelstaedt, G., Prichard, S., Schollaert, C.,  Spector, J. (2022). Wildfire, smoke exposure, human health, and environmental justice need to be integrated into forest restoration and management. Current Environmental Health Reports. 9: 1-20. 10.1007/s40572-022-00355-7.
    15. Bloem S, Cullen A, Mearns L, Abatzoglou J, 2022, “The role of international resource sharing arrangements in managing fire in the face of climate change, Fire, 5(4), 88.
    16. Hawkins LR, Abatzoglou JT, Li S, Rupp DE. (2022) “Anthropogenic influence on recent severe autumn fire weather in the west coast of the United States” Geophysical Research Letters 48(8).
    17. Gaines W, Hessburg P, Aplet G, Henson P, Prichard S, Churchill D, Jones G, Isaac DJ, and Vynne, C. (2022) “Climate change and the Northwest Forest Plan: managing for dynamic landscapes.” Forest Ecology and Management 504: 119794.
    18. Jain, P, Castellanos-Acuna, D, Coogan, SCP., Abatzoglou, JT & Flannigan, MD “Observed increases in extreme fire weather driven by atmospheric humidity and temperature.” (2021). Nat. Clim. Chang. doi:10.1038/s41558-021-01224-1.
    19. Abatzoglou, JT, Battisti, DS, Williams, AP et al. “Projected increases in western US forest fire despite growing fuel constraints.” (2021). Commun Earth Environ 2, 227.
    20. Abatzoglou, JT, Cullen, AC and Prichard, S, Synchronous fires and fire danger challenge US capacity to respond, The Climate Circulator, September 29, 2021.
    21. Prichard SJ, Hessburg PF, Hagmann RK, Dobrowski S, Povak NA, Hurteau MD, Kane VR, Keane RE, Kobziar LN, Kolden CA, North M, Parks SA, Safford HD, Stevens JT, Yocom LL, Churchill DJ, Gray RW, Huffman DW, Lake FK, and Khatri-Chhetri P. (2021). “Adapting western North American forests to climate change and wildfires: ten common questions” Invited feature. Ecological Applications.
    22. Abatzoglou JT, Rupp DE, O’Neill LW and Sadegh M. (2021). “Compound Extremes Drive the Western Oregon Wildfires of September 2020” Geophysical Research Letters 48(8).
    23. Abatzoglou JT, Juang CS, Williams AP, Kolden CA and LeRoy Westerling A. (2021). “Increasing synchronous fire danger in forests of the western United States” Geophysical Research Letters 48(2).
    24. Cullen AC,  Axe T and  Podschwit H. (2020) “High-severity wildfire potential – associating meteorology, climate, resource demand and wildfire activity with preparedness levels” International Journal of Wildland Fire 30(1):30-41.
    25. Higuera PE and Abatzoglou JT. (2020). “Record-setting climate enabled the extraordinary 2020 fire season in the western United States” Global Change Biology 27(1):1–2.

Book Chapter

  1. Ostrander, Madeline. (Upcoming in 2022). At Home on an Unruly Planet: Finding Refuge on a Changed Earth. Henry Holt and Co. ISBN 9781250620514.

Web Application

burn_viz is a web application that allows users to visualize relationships between wildfire occurrence, the location of human populations, and different landcover types. Understanding these relationships is crucial for risk assessment and policymaking, but it can be challenging to navigate data from disparate sources that may be provided in different formats and spatial resolutions. Integrating these elements into a interactive visualization creates an opportunity to explore how wildfire, population, and landcover interact over space and time.

White Paper

Dickinson, MB, Abatzoglou JT, Cullen AC, Fillmore S, Fischer P, French N, Hessburg P, Hogland S, Lake F, Linn R, McCaffrey S, Prichard S, Rinkleff PG. Translational Science to Support Wildfire Management for Cultural and Ecological Benefit (2022, prepared for the Joint Fire Science Program, US Forest Service).

Story Maps

Prescribed versus Wildfire Smoke Emissions Tradeoffs Analysis

Research Goals, Questions, Hypotheses

Our overall research goal is to understand current and future wildfire characteristics to support fire-related decisions throughout the 21st century in the face of resultant suppression resource scarcity and competition in the US. This project will model future patterns and uncertainty in the simultaneous co-occurrence of megafire events to inform risk management.

 Research Questions:

  • How will climate change alter future patterns of wildfire, particularly co-occurring megafires?
  • What implications does this hold for risk management decisions?

We are developing statistical models to represent relationships between biogeophysical and human factors (e.g., ignitions, suppression policy, land and fuel management) and firefighting resource demand at geographical scales relevant to firefighting management decision-making. These resource demand and risk management models will be based on wildfire characteristics, climate, weather, and land history covariates. We are evaluating climate change impacts on ignition patterns and on wildfire risk with regional climate model projections from NA-CORDEX, and observations from the gridMET dataset, by looking at fire danger indices in concert with projected spatiotemporal patterns in anthropogenic activities associated with human-caused fires, as well as diagnostics for lightning activity.

Hypotheses:

  1. We hypothesize that ignition efficiency will increase further with warming, facilitating increased lightning-ignitions, and consequently increases in simultaneous wildfire events.
  2. We hypothesize that a positive feedback may occur where fire suppression resources at the national level become strained, reducing the efficacy of managing active fires and new ignitions, and further increasing resource strain and relative burned area.
  3. We hypothesize that short term fire management decisions (e.g., both fuel management and fire suppression) have significant delayed impacts, and demand innovative scientifically supported decision tools that explicitly account for climate change and the continuing interaction of natural and human systems.

Project Team

Project Team

Alison Cullen, PI, Daniel J. Evans Endowed Professor of Environmental Policy, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle WA.

John Abatzoglou, Co-PI, Associate Professor, University of California Merced, Merced, CA.

Seth McGinnis, Co-PI, Associate Scientist IV, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO.

Susan Prichard, Co-PI, Senior Research Scientist, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Sunniva Bloem, Research Assistant, Ph.D. student, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance,  University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Nick Bradbury, Research Assistant, MPA student, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Yu-Chen Chu, Research Assistant, Ph.D. student, Urban Design and Planning,  University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Reed Humphrey, Research Assistant, Ph.D. student, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance,  University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Anna Kenig-Ziesler, Research Assistant, Ph.D. student, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance,  University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Lee Kessenich, Associate Scientist I, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO.

Rachel McCrary, Project Scientist II, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO.

Linda Mearns, Senior Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO.

Mark Nepf, Research Assistant, PhD student, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Cory Struthers, Assistant Professor, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Ashwin Thomas, Research Assistant, Ph.D. student, Environmental Systems, University of California Merced, Merced, CA.

Graduates

Harry Podschwit, School of Environmental and Forestry Science, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (PhD, 2020).

Alex Dolk, School of Forest and Environmental Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (MS, 2021; MPA, 2021).

Marie Higinbotham, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (MPA 2022).

Emily Stephens, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (MPA 2022).

Mohamed Alkhars, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (MPA 2023).

Brian Goldgeier, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance,  University of Washington, Seattle, WA (MPA 2023).

David Lu, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (MPA 2023).

Sam Perkins, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (MPA 2023).

Evan Pierce, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (MPA 2023).

Haley Skinner, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (MPA 2023).

Presentations

Graduate Student Academic Defenses

Dolk, Alex. (MS/MPA 2021). Where There’s Fire, There’s Smoke: Examining Population Exposure to PM2.5 from Prescribed Burning in Northeastern Washington. Concurrent Master’s Thesis. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Podschwit, Harry. (PhD, 2021). Accounting for model uncertainties in statistical forecasts of wildfire parameters. Doctoral Dissertation. School of Environmental And Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Stephens, Emily. (MPA, 2022). Winner of the Environmental Policy & Management Research Prize, All Lands, All Plans: Regional and Forest-Level Planning and Coordination in Eastern Washington Forests. Masters Degree Capstone, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington.

Higinbotham, Marie (MPA 2022). Incorporating Equity into Capital Planning and Decision-Making. Masters Degree Capstone. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Goldgeier, Brian (MPA 2023). Winner of Masters Capstone Justice and Diversity Research Prize, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Skinner, Haley (MPA 2023). Winner of Masters Capstone International Development Research Prize. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Perkins, Sam; Pierce, Evan; Alkhars, Mohamed; Lu, David (MPA 2023). Masters Team Capstone Project with USDA Forest Service on Addressing Disparities in Wildland Firefighter Compensation. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Conference Presentations

“Projected changes in inter-regional simultaneity of megafires in the Western US based on NA-CORDEX regional climate simulations.” (Seth McGinnis, Lee Kessenich, Linda Mearns, Melissa Bukovsky, Alison Cullen).  2023 Wildfire Risk Management Science Weekly Series, Rocky Mountain Research Station, US Forest Service. Virtual, July 27, 2023.

“Co-producing Actionable Climate Science for Wildland Fire Operations and Policy.” (Lee Kessenich, Melissa Bukovsky, Seth McGinnis, Linda Mearns, Alison Cullen, John Abatzoglou). 28th Annual CESM Workshop, Boulder, CO. 12 June 2023.

“Reimagining fire-adapted forests: place-based adaptation strategies for western landscapes” (Susan Prichard) Opening plenary talk for the Cross-boundary Workshop. Southwest Chapter for the Society for Ecological Restoration. Fort Collins, CO. 2 May 2023.

“A Multi-Index Examination of Future Fire Season Length and Severity over the United States.” (Lee Kessenich, Melissa Bukovsky, Seth McGinnis, Linda Mearns, John Abatzoglou, Alison Cullen). AMS 14th Fire and Fire Meteorology Symposium, virtual, 3 May 2023.

“Fire Weather Forecasting in the Pacific Northwest using 500mb Map Types.” (Reed Humphrey, John Saltenberger, John Abatzoglou, and Alison Cullen). AMS Fire and Forest Meteorology Symposium, Minneapolis MN, 4 May 2023.

” A Multi-Index Examination of Future Fire Season Length and Severity over the United States” (Melissa Bukovsky, Lee Kessenich, Seth McGinnis, Linda Mearns, John Abatzoglou, and Alison Cullen) EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, April 2023.

“Projected Changes in Inter-Regional Simultaneity of Megafires in the Western US Based on NA-CORDEX Regional Climate Simulations” (Seth McGinnis, Lee Kessenich, Linda Mearns, Melissa S Bukovsky, Alison Cullen). AMS Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. January 2023.

“Co-producing Actionable Climate Science for Wildland Fire Operations and Policy.” (Lee Kessenich, Melissa Bukovsky, Seth McGinnis, Linda Mearns, Alison Cullen, John Abatzoglou). AMS Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. January 2023.

“Climate change adaptation and proactive fuel reduction treatments.” (Susan Prichard) Wildfire Resilience Summit, Jackson, WY. 28 September 2022.

“Upper Wenatchee Pilot Project Workshop” (Haley Skinner, Susan Prichard, Alison Cullen), University of Washington (online) 15 November 2022.

“Projected Changes in Inter-Regional Simultaneity of Megafires in the Western US Based on NA-CORDEX Regional Climate Simulations” (Seth McGinnis, Lee Kessenich, Linda Mearns, Melissa S Bukovsky, Alison Cullen). AGU Fall Meeting, Chicago IL. December 2022.

“A Multi-Index Examination of Future Fire Season Length and Severity Over the United States.” (Melissa S Bukovsky, Lee Kessenich, Seth McGinnis, Linda Mearns, John Abatzoglou, Alison Cullen). AGU Fall Meeting, Chicago, IL. 16 Dec 2022.

“International Cooperation for Managing Wildfire Risk” (Sunniva Bloem, Alison Cullen, Linda Mearns, John Abatzoglou), Society for Risk Analysis, Annual Meeting, Tampa FL, December 2022.

“Fire Weather Forecasting in the Pacific Northwest” (Reed Humphrey, John Saltenberger, John Abatzoglou, Seth McGinnis, Alison Cullen) Society for Risk Analysis, Annual Meeting, Tampa FL, December 2022.

“Risk Management through Megafire Response” (Alison Cullen, Erin Belval, Haley Skinner, Brian Goldgeier, Sunniva Bloem, John Abatzoglou), Society for Risk Analysis, Annual Meeting, Tampa FL, December 2022.

“Growing Convergence Research: Co-producing Climate Projection Information for Managing Risk from Simultaneous Wildfires” (Alison Cullen, Reed Humphrey, Lee Kessenich, Seth McGinnis, John Abatzoglou), Society for Risk Analysis, Annual Meeting, Tampa FL, December 2022.

“Drivers of lightning-ignition efficiency in California forests.” (Ashwin Thomas). 2022 Yosemite Hydroclimate Meeting, Yosemite National Park. October 13, 2022.

“Taming fire: panel on climate change and wildfires” (Don Hankins, Susan Prichard) Aspen Ideas Festival, Aspen, CO. June 29, 2022.

“Western wildfires – adapting to a future with more fire” (Susan Prichard) University of Washington Botanical Gardens Plenary, March 2, 2022. [online]

“Where there’s fire, there’s smoke: Examining Population Exposure to PM2.5 from Prescribed Burning in Northeastern Washington.” (Ernesto Alvarado, Alison Cullen, Alex Dolk). International Association of Wildland Fire & Climate Conference, Pasadena, CA. May 2022.

“Future changes in Simultaneous Megafire projected by NA-CORDEX” (Melissa Bukovsky) European Geophysical Union. Vienna. May 2022

“Drivers of lightning-ignition efficiency in California forests.” (Ashwin Thomas). International Association of Wildland Fire Conference: Fire & Climate 2022, Pasadena, CA. May 2022.

“Multimodel Uncertainty in Projected Changes of Simultaneous Megafires in the Great Basin Based on NA-CORDEX Regional Climate Simulations.” (Seth McGinnis, Lee Kessenich, Harry Podschwit, Linda Mearns, Melissa Bukovsky, and Alison Cullen). AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans LA. December 2021.

“Managing Future Fire Risk – an NSF Growing Convergence Research Project.” (Alison Cullen). Society for Risk Analysis 2021 Annual Meeting. December 2021.

“The role of international resource sharing arrangements in wildfire risk management in the face of climate change.” (Sunniva Bloem). Society for Risk Analysis 2021 Annual Meeting. December 2021.

“Symposium: Managing and Reducing the Risk of wildfire through Response and Fuel Treatment.” (Alison Cullen). Society for Risk Analysis 2021 Annual Meeting. December 2021.

“Projected Effects of Climate Change on Simultaneous North American Megafires Based on NA-CORDEX Regional Climate Simulations.”  (Seth McGinnis, Harry Podschwit, Lee Kessenich, Linda Mearns, and Alison Cullen) GC081-07, 2020 Fall Meeting, American Geophysical Union, December 2020 https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm20/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/687152

“Managing Future Risk of Increasing Simultaneous Megafires” (Alison Cullen, Harry Podschwit, Linda Mearns, John Abatzoglou, Seth McGinnis, Melissa Bukovsky, Susan Prichard) Society for Risk Analysis 2020 Annual Meeting, December 2020.

Workshops

UW Evans School Capstone Presentation and Workshop May 2023

Upper Wenatchee Pilot Project Decision Analysis, Stakeholder Workshop, Autumn 2022.

NSF Growing Convergence Research Managing Future Risk of Simultaneous Wildfire. Stakeholder Workshop. April 2021.

NSF Growing Convergence Research Managing Future Risk of Simultaneous Wildfire.” Stakeholder Workshop. June 2021.

Convergence Workshop on Simultaneous Fires, Stakeholder Focus Group, Association for Fire Ecology. November 2021.

Webinars, Seminars, and Podcasts

“Rekindling our Relationship with Wildfire” Climate One Podcast(Susan Prichard) June 7, 2024

“Invited briefing to White House staff on climate change and wildfires” (Susan Prichard). June 29, 2023

“Climate and wildfires in western North America: a case for proactive management” (Susan Prichard) Environmental Science Speaker Series, Western Washington University. May 18, 2023.

“GCR 2023: Lessons from the Field” (Alison Cullen) NSF Growing Convergence Research Program, April 6 2023.

“Overview of the 10 Common Questions paper” (Susan Prichard) Meeting with Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest Late Successional Reserve Working Group. April 4, 2023.

“Adapting western forests to climate change and wildfires” (Susan Prichard) Southwest Fire Science Consortium Webinar. January 31, 2023.

“Public webinar: Adapting western forests to climate change and wildfires.” (Susan Prichard and Keala Hagmann) September 9, 2022.

“CALFIRE executives webinar: Adapting western forests to climate change and wildfires.” (Susan Prichard and Keala Hagmann) September 1, 2022.

“Burning Issues: Wildfires” Podcast. (Alison Cullen). Burning Issues. University of Chicago. June 2022.

“Western wildfires – adapting to a future with more fire.” (Susan Prichard)  Rotary District 5060 Environmental Sustainability Committee. June 16, 2022. [online]

“Landscape fuel treatments and wildland fire management strategies within recent large fire events of north-central Washington State”(Susan Prichard)  Missoula Fire Science Lecture Series. April 28, 2022. [online]

“Landscape fuel treatments and wildland fire management strategies within recent large fire events” (Prichard, S., Povak, N., Lemons, R., and Griffey, V.) Northwest Fire Science Consortium Webinar. November 18, 2021.

“Climate change and the risk of Western fire activity.” (John Abatzoglou). IBHS Disaster Dynamics Academy, March 2022.

“Climate Change and Simultaneous Megafires in the Western US.” (Seth McGinnis). Presentation, CGD Seminar, Boulder CO, 1 March 2022.

“Climate change adaptation for western forests, watersheds, and communities.” (Susan Prichard). FEMA Region 10 Regional Interagency Steering Committee (RISC) Meeting. March 2022.

“Climate change impacts on demand for emergency resources.” (Reed Humphrey). FEMA Region 10 Regional Interagency Steering Committee (RISC) Meeting. March 2022.

“Western wildfires – adapting to a future with more fire.” (Susan Prichard). University of Washington Botanical Gardens, Seattle, WA, March 2, 2022.

“Common questions about adaptive forest management.” (Susan Prichard). Guest lecture, Environmental and Resource Management 101: Forests and Society. February 2022.

“Managing Future Risk of Increasing Simultaneous Megafires” (Melissa Bukovsky), National Center for Atmospheric Research, Research Applications Lab, December 2021.

“Landscape fuel treatments and wildland fire management strategies within recent large fire events.” (Susan Prichard, N Povak, R Lemons, V Griffey). Northwest Fire Science Consortium Webinar. November 18, 2021.

“Climate driven fire hazards: knowledge and limitations.” (John Abatzoglou). Bureau of Meteorology Annual Conference, Melbourne Australia (remote), November 2021.

“Common questions about adaptive forest management.” (Susan Prichard). Society of American Foresters, Washington Chapter. Webinar, November 11, 2021.

“Wildfire Smoke Engagement Workshop: Fire Ecology.” (Susan Prichard). SNAPP wildfire smoke engagement workshop Okanogan, WA, November 8, 2021.

“Common questions about adaptive forest management.” (Susan Prichard, P Hessburg, K Hagmann). UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences Fall Seminar Series, October 28, 2021.

“The rise of fire in the Western United States: drives, impacts, and solutions” (John Abatzoglou). National Academies of Engineers, Sep 2021

“Climate Challenges for Wildland Fire Management” (John Abatzoglou).  University of California Wildfire Symposium Series, Aug 2021

Colorado Congressional Forum on Wildfire and Extreme Climate, Rep. Joe Neguse, Linda Mearns,  discussant, Highlands Institute Boulder,  August 2021.

“Compound Extremes Drive the Western Oregon Wildfires of September 2020” (John Abatzoglou) Pacific Northwest Drought Early Warning System webinar series, June 2021.

“Wildfire Risk Management and Decision Analytic Approaches” (Alison Cullen) Research Highlights, Evans School, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, March 19, 2021.

“Climate Change Impacts in Colorado” (Melissa Bukovsky) Protect Our Winters, Colorado Chapter.  January 2021.

“Climate information for fire management in SW Forests” (John  Abatzoglou)  Fire Science & Management in an Uncertain Future webinar series, December 2020.

“Wildfires and Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest.” (Susan Prichard) Association of Women in Science – Seattle Chapter. December 2020.

“Climate change and the risk of Western fire activity, Wildfires, Litigation, and What Science Can Tell Us” (John Abatzoglou) National Judicial College webinar, October 2020.

“Fuel Treatments and Megafires: lessons from the large fires in north-central WA” (Susan Prichard) University of California Fire Science Seminar Series. October 2020.

“Why are wildfires increasing in the Pacific Northwest?” (Susan Prichard) Washington on Fire Seminar, Washington State University Graduate and Professional Student Science Policy Initiative. October 2020.

“Wildfire Risk Management: Future Trends and Impact on Decision Making” (Alison Cullen) Cascadia Wildfire and Urban Smoke Webinar, Seattle, WA, 2020.

Policy Messages

Climate Projections and Simultaneous Wildfires

  • Fire weather meteorologists can make better near-term predictions of the number of daily ignitions and the occurrence of large wildfires if they take into consideration synoptic-scale weather patterns (Humphrey et al. under revision, 2024).
  • Unless we take steps to address the situation – most of the Western US is projected to see numbers of simultaneous, 1000+ acre fires that historically occurred once every ten years happening once every five years – or even more frequently (McGinnis et al., 2022).
  • In the US, the median number of large fires (i.e., greater than the historic 75th percentile) occurring simultaneously from July to September was about 3 times higher in 2010-2019 than it was in 1984-1993 (Podschwit and Cullen, 2020; Cullen et al., 2023).
  • During the month of peak fire intensity in the US, the number of large fires (i.e., greater than the historic 75th percentile) occurring simultaneously was twice as high in 2010-2019 as it was in 1984-1993 (Podschwit and Cullen, 2020; Cullen et al, 2023).
  • In Alaska, the average number of large fires (i.e., greater than the historic 75th percentile) during peak fire activity months approximately doubled in 2002-2019 compared to 1984-2001. In the Northwest US, the average number of large fires during peak fire activity months increased almost 30% between these two periods (Cullen et al, 2023).
  • In the Northern Rockies region, conditions of more than 35 simultaneous wildfires 1000+ acres in size, which historically occurred once per decade, are projected to occur on average every two years by the end of this century (McGinnis et al., 2022).

Preparing for Future Wildfire Seasons – Resource Preparedness

  • Federal firefighters are earning up to 50% less per month than state firefighters in four western states, despite spending more time on the job. This pay gap poses a substantial barrier to hiring and retaining firefighters for federal roles, which has been reflected in a large percentage of open positions in some locations. (Alkhars et al. 2023)
  • As periods of co-occurring wildfire increasingly overlap across US regions, competition for suppression resources has been increasing, a trend which is expected to continue and intensify. (Podschwit and Cullen, 2020; Cullen et al., 2020).
  • The current capacity, in terms of hiring, staffing and preparing, of fire operations organizations is insufficient for responding effectively in the coming decades given the projected number and intensity of impactful fires. (Podschwit and Cullen, 2020; Cullen et al., 2020).
  • In the Western US, the season during which wildfires compete for suppression resources is projected to begin 2-4 weeks earlier and end 2 weeks later in 2040-2070 than it did during 1980-2010. Overall, wildfire season length will increase by 4-6 weeks. (McGinnis et al, 2022).
  • In 2021, the US national preparedness level reached its maximum (PL=5) at the earliest point in the year ever recorded, 14 July, indicating that suppression resources were already fully committed in response to simultaneous active fires at that date. (Abatzoglou et al., 2021).
  • With increasing intensity of wildfire seasons, national resources will be subject to ever higher levels of competition, necessitating increased reliance on international resource-sharing relationships. (Bloem et al., 2022).

Proactive Forest Management (Mitigating fire risk under climate change)

  • Fire management in the US must become proactive rather than reactive in the face of the lengthening of the simultaneous wildfire season by several weeks, alongside a notable increase in the risk of extreme fire weather.
  • In recent decades, increased area burned by western wildfires has been associated with uncharacteristically large patches of high-severity, stand-replacing fire. (Parks and Abatzoglou 2020, Hagmann et al. 2021).
  • Because high-severity fire events can be catalysts for vegetation change, trends in large wildfires and burn severity have implications for rapid ecosystem shifts and declines in valued resources. (Kemp et al. 2019, Stevens-Rumann and Morgan 2019, Coop et al. 2020).
  • Combining western science and Indigenous knowledge systems is foundational to intentionally restoring and adapting western forest ecosystems (Kimmerer and Lake 2001, Lake et al. 2017, Roos et al. 2021).” (Prichard et al. 2021)
  • Adaptive management is a learning-by-doing method of responding to ecosystem changes, informed by effectiveness monitoring. (Lyons et al. 2008, Larson et al. 2013b).
  • Restoring open forest structure and composition, favoring larger tree sizes, and reducing surface fuels can effectively mitigate future wildfire severity in dry, fire-prone forests, including oak and pine woodland and semi-arid mixed conifer forests of the western US.
  • Despite calls to restore fire as a cultural and ecological process (e.g., The U.S. National Wildland Fire Cohesive Strategy), the dominant approach to wildfire management continues to be aggressive suppression. (Prichard et al. 2021)
  • Under active fire suppression, forest infilling and fuel accumulation predisposes forests to high-severity fire when fire inevitably returns to the locations where it has been previously suppressed. (North et al. 2015b)

Press Coverage

Press/Coverage

Wildfire Series 3 explain how climate change makes wildfire seasons worse Project Optimist April 2024.

How years of fighting every wildfire helped fuel the Western megafires of today FreeThink.com, Jun 4, 2023

Talking Points: The health risks from Minnesota’s hazy skies CBS News Minnesota, June 21, 2023

California is seeing more days of fire weather. Map shows areas with biggest spikes San Francisco Chronicle, May 24, 2023

Western organizations push back on lawsuit seeking to restrict aerial fire retardant use Northwest Public Broadcasting, Mar 15, 2023

Does Thinning Work for Wildfire Prevention High Country News. February 2023.

In the Northwest and beyond, mature and old-growth trees remain under threat in spite of Biden’s move to protect them InvestigateWest. September 2022.

Fire danger escalating in Northern California as McKinney blaze erupts Washington Post. July 30, 2022.

August is coming. Prepare for climate calamity Los Angeles Times. July 28, 2022.

Prescribed fires: Why they’re still trusted despite runaway blaze Christian Science Monitor. July 19, 2022.

Climate change: wildfire risk has grown nearly everywhere – but we can still influence where and how fires strike, The  Conversation. June 30, 2022.

Americans Don’t Trust one of the Best Methods to Control Wildfires TIME. May 2022.

Briefing with President Biden – climate crisis and Executive Order strengthening America’s forests, boosting wildfire resilience, and combating global deforestation. April 2022.

The Return of Intentional Forest Fires: Scientists look to Indigenous practices Bioscience. March 17, 2022.

Western US’s Worst Drought in 1,200 Years Brings Year-Long Fire Season Truthout. 13 March 13, 2022.

‘In wildfire ‘pivot’ experts question federal focus’ Roll Call. January 28, 2022.

For Forest Blazes Grown Wilder, an Alternative: The ‘Good Fire’ Undark. October 25, 2021.

Local fire ecologist addresses forest management debate Methow Valley News. September 1, 2021.

Experts call for expanded wildfire prevention tactics as fire seasons become more extreme Yakima Herald-Republic. September 7, 2021.

An Update on This Year’s Wildfires: It’s Bad! The Stranger. August 26, 2021.

Wildfires grow worldwide as climate sizzles Associated Press. August 13, 2021.

Forest management not so clear cut Street Roots. August 17, 2021.

Wildfires: How are they linked to climate change? BBC. August 11, 2021.

What The UN’s Latest Climate Report Means For Colorado Colorado Public Radio. August 9, 2021.

How years of fighting every wildfire helped fuel the Western megafires of today The Conversation. August 2, 2021.

State of the science on western wildfires, forests and climate change UW News. August 2, 2021.

US heatwave: Could US and Canada see the worst wildfires yet? Reality Check Team, BBC. July 13, 2021.

States spend big as water levels fall, raising risks for catastrophic fires The Hill. June 29, 2021.

Software, Data Products

All software and data products generated by this project are publicly available. The code and documentation that we have developed for calculating fire indices in support of climate projections is publicly available on GitHub. Visualizations appear in both published papers and above on this page.

burn_viz is a web application that allows users to visualize relationships between wildfire occurrence, the location of human populations, and different landcover types. Understanding these relationships is crucial for risk assessment and policymaking, but it can be challenging to navigate data from disparate sources that may be provided in different formats and spatial resolutions. Integrating these elements into a interactive visualization creates an opportunity to explore how wildfire, population, and landcover interact over space and time.

Alison Cullen to Chair EPA Science Advisory Board

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan has announced his selections for membership of the Science Advisory Board (SAB), including Alison Cullen, Daniel J. Evans Endowed Professor of Environmental Policy, as its chair.

The Science Advisory Board provides scientific advice to the EPA Administrator, including reviewing the quality and relevance of the information being used to propose regulations and reviewing agency programs. The committee will be comprised of 22 women and 25 men, including 16 people of color, making it the most diverse SAB since the committee was established. The EPA Administrator’s selections represent a cross-section of scientific disciplines and experience needed to provide advice to EPA leadership to help advance the agency’s mission.

“This highly qualified, diverse group of experts will ensure that EPA is receiving sound science-based advice to inform our work to protect people and the environment from pollution,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “We worked expeditiously and deliberately to finalize the new Science Advisory Board, and now we can move forward knowing EPA’s work is guided by the most credible, independent expertise.”

For more information, and to see the full list of appointees, view the full press release from the EPA.

Parrington Hall Remodeled – Celebrating the Evans School’s Historic Home

After five years of planning, garnering support and execution, it is with great pride and joy that we celebrate the transformation of Parrington Hall. To the Evans School community – alumni, friends, staff, faculty and students – as well as the UW and the State of Washington, thank you. The vision of Dean Emerita Sandy Archibald, the enthusiasm of Dan and Nancy Evans, the project management of Rebecca Ehrlichman Blume, the contributions of our architectural and construction partners and the generosity of 517 donors led by co-chairs Bill Clapp, Maria Denny and Tom Waldron, were critical in bringing the project to this incredible conclusion. I hope you will take a few minutes to join a virtual tour to see this truly remarkable remodel for yourself and to realize just what this transformation means for our students, faculty, staff, and community!

This is a unique time to celebrate the completion of a building project, with so many of us teaching, learning, and engaging from home. In this period of upheaval and isolation, we long more than ever to gather physically and philosophically during this traditional season of coming home. In a way, Parrington Hall’s transformation symbolizes where we have been, where we are going, and what we can accomplish together.

Within our responsibilities as an academic institution is the mandate to continue to learn and to share an awareness of our own history with humility in order to forge stronger more inclusive public policy, toward a more equitable future. As we celebrate our newly renovated home in Parrington Hall, I would like to acknowledge the Coast Salish peoples, upon whose land Parrington Hall and the University of Washington were built. Their ancestors have resided here since time immemorial and they continue to live in this place today, deeply rooted in their cultural traditions.

Land acknowledgement is a traditional practice in many Indigenous communities. Long before Parrington Hall — or Science Hall, as it was first named — was built in 1902, Coast Salish communities were already in relationship with this land. Recognizing this continuing history reminds us of the importance of centering Indigenous, Black, and other communities of color within our Evans community, and it reminds us of our own connection to this land where we live, learn, and work.

I recognize that this acknowledgement is a small gesture, but an important initial step in our commitment to “make anti-racism work [our] cornerstone, focus, and overarching mission.” This step carries the further responsibility to dedicate ourselves to building respectful, collaborative, and accountable relationships, and to allow those relationships to inform our actions.

When it is safe to do so, we will welcome all of you to Parrington Hall to celebrate its incredible transformation to a light filled and inspiring space in which to connect, engage with community, bridge divides, and move our mission forward! Until then, please remember that even when we are far from campus, our community’s passion for public service and unceasing dedication to making change and elevating equity, distinguish us as the Evans School in all places and at all times.

Fauntleroy Ferry Study

“The 2018 Washington State Legislature commissioned two faculty members with the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance to conduct an independent study of ticketing and loading procedures at the popular ferry dock and suggest ways to improve terminal operations.”  UW News

Technology, training and communication — and appropriate resources to support change — form the core of recommendations to the state from Evans faculty members Alison Cullen and Stephen Page and four MPA students after their study of the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal in West Seattle.

The report and recommendations includes specifics about the potential of  “Good to Go!” tolling technology and expanded mobile transactions, as well as public engagement and social media.

Read Report

For those interested in the dataset and code related to Figures 10, 11, 14, 15 and Appendix H see:

Affiliated Faculty

Evans School Policy Analysis & Research Group (EPAR)

Established in 2008, the Evans School Policy Analysis and Research Group (EPAR) uses an innovative student-faculty team model to provide rigorous, applied research and analysis to international development stakeholders. EPAR has prepared more than 300 technical reports and briefs including: statistical data analysis and research, literature reviews and analysis, and portfolio analysis and strategy support. Our reports focus on agriculture, development policy, financial services, poverty reduction, gender, and measurement and evaluation.

Learn more about recent EPAR research and to explore EPAR’s research in sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods, household well-being and equity, development finance and policy, and technology, or follow the links above to learn more about EPAR, access research resources, explore interactive data visualizations, and read recent blog posts.

Browse EPAR Research

Interim Dean Alison Cullen receives grant to research to understand vulnerability of west coast fishing communities to climate change

The California Current Ecosystem (CCE), which brings cold, nutrient-rich waters to the U.S. West Coast, supports a wide range of important fisheries off California, Oregon, and Washington. In recent years, climate-driven changes in the CCE – from warming temperatures to ocean acidification and toxic algal blooms – are disrupting ocean habitats and species, and by extension the social and economic fabric of fishing communities on the coast. To better understand these changes, the Lenfest Ocean Program is funding Dr. Phillip Levin, The Nature Conservancy/University of Washington, and Dr. Alison Cullen, University of Washington, to assess the social and ecological vulnerability of fishing communities along the U.S. West Coast to changing ocean conditions.

Learn more about people mentioned in this post