As wildfires cause increasing devastation worldwide, dozens of fire experts across the nation are joining together in calling for a more strategic and interdisciplinary approach to pursuing wildfire research and protecting vulnerable communities.
As wildfires cause increasing devastation worldwide, dozens of fire experts across the nation are joining together in calling for a more strategic and interdisciplinary approach to pursuing wildfire research and protecting vulnerable communities.
A new study, led by a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and co-authored by 86 other fire experts from a breadth of disciplines, highlights the obstacles for fire science and provides guidance for investing in future research. The commentary is a follow-up to a five-day innovation lab, sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), that brought together diverse research communities in May 2021 to develop a roadmap for new research directions.
Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Nexus journal, the study outlines five key challenges to advance the study of fire. These range from promoting coordinated research to drawing on diverse sources of knowledge.
“We need to develop a proactive fire research agenda that helps create safe communities and ecosystems,” said NCAR scientist Jacquelyn Shuman, the lead author. “This requires a more cross-disciplinary approach and building diverse partnerships to make better use of the knowledge that exists.”
Read more at National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
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