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RESEARCH FOCUS
In the Landscape Ecology and Fire Lab, we are focused on three major themes within the broader discipline of fire ecology and related fields of landscape ecology, natural resources management, and geography. These include:
1)  Developing the next generation of diverse fire ecologists and managers, capable of leveraging the fire data science revolution.
A primary function of this lab is to train diverse individuals at multiple levels to tackle contemporary problems in fire ecology and management.
2) Exploring the challenges and opportunities that arise from landscape diversity and system dynamics. By landscape diversity, we mean the diversity of fire regimes, life forms, and land tenure at landscape scales (patch-to-regional scales). When we say dynamics, we mean the way that patterns of landscape diversity have changed and are expected to continue to change. 
3) Examining socio-ecological
 effects of fires. We tend to focus especially on the ecological relationships between fire and plants, but this often leads us into studies of the resilience of ecological and social communities, including wildlife habitat, state change, fuels management, invasive species, and much more. Some tools we commonly use to this end include remote sensing & GIS, fire behavior modeling, tree ring analysis, ecoacoustics, prescribed fire, and field-based data collection. Our place-based research has traditionally had a regional focus on the western US and Hawaii, but we like to think about how the work we do fits into the discipline beyond these locations. 

CURRENT PROJECTS

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Photo Credit: Mary Malloy
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Photo Credit: NPS
COMMUNICATING FIRE HAZARD
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How are ecological patterns and processes changing as stand-replacing fires burn shortly after insect outbreaks, extreme weather events, and other fires?
How did invasive grasses influence burn severity in the Keauhou Ranch Fire in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park? 
How can we incorporate diverse, local knowledge into fire modeling and spatial analysis?

PAST PROJECTS

How will increased fire activity affect the dispersal of lodgepole pine seeds?
Lodgepole pine burned, regeneration, serotiny, postfire, serotinous cones
What limits quaking aspen regeneration from seed?
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Photo Credit: Tara Durboraw
How do fire severity and time since fire influence Mexican Spotted Owl nesting habitat?
AFRICANIZED HONEYBEE DISTRIBUTION
honeybee, hive, honeycomb
Where can we expect to find this invasive species in the southwestern US? Why?
Pit and Mound. A subalpine fir seedling grows out of the mound created by a tree which was blown down in the 1997 windstorm in Routt National Forest
How will the management of invasive species benefit endemic plants in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park?
Lodgepole pine burned, regeneration, serotiny, postfire, serotinous cones
What determines the amount and type of regeneration that will grow after a severe wildfire?
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