CSU experts available on variety of wildfire topics
Colorado State University researchers have been at the forefront of wildfire science for decades. Researchers from across the institution are working on forest management, public policy; and the associated health issues related to air and water quality.
As the wildfire season progresses, with the Park Fire in California, numerous fires in Colorado and blazes in Canada sending plumes of smoke across the western U.S., CSU has a variety of resources and experts available to help you tell stories and answer key questions for your audiences.
Please contact [email protected] for more information or help connecting with experts.
Research
- Delphine Famer in the Department of Chemistry has led research into cleaning your home of smoke and the associated health impacts of wildfires on air quality. She also recently co-authored an article in The Conversation detailing how some trees essentially “shut their windows and doors and hold their breath” to avoid wildfire smoke.
- Photos and other assets available.
Experts
- Matt Rogers, assistant director for outreach and communications at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, can discuss the detective analysis and modeling of active wildfires, as well as the transport of smoke through the atmosphere.
(Note to reporters: CIRA has satellite imagery of active wildfires across the U.S. and beyond available for media use)
- Sheryl Magzamen, epidemiology concentration lead of the Colorado School of Public Health, can discuss the health impacts of wildfire smoke. She is an environmental health scientist who seeks to understand the role of inhalation hazards on respiratory health.
- Courtney Schultz in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship can discuss natural resource policy, effective fire management, and climate change adaptation on U.S. Forest lands.
- Camille Stevens-Rumann, an assistant professor in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, is a former wildland firefighter. She can discuss climate change, forest resilience, ecology and what fuels forest fires. Stevens-Rumann’s research focuses on ecosystem disturbances and the impact of events like wildfires in particular.
- Tiffany Lipsey, director of the Heart Disease Prevention and First Responder Testing programs in the Human Performance Clinical Research Laboratory, has been working with Colorado firefighters and emergency personnel for over 20 years and has been involved in physiological testing for over 2,200 of these first responders. Some of her firefighting-related projects include cardiovascular disease risk assessment, lifestyle modification, carcinogen exposure, temperature regulation, cooling mechanisms, novel medical devices, noise exposure and performance.
- Brett Wolk, assistant director at the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute , develops and supplies usable science with and for forest and fire managers, policy-makers and the academic research community. His areas of interest and expertise include translating science principles into practice, developing ecological monitoring programs, adaptive management processes, forest and fire policy, botany and assessing impacts of forest management on understory vegetation and wildland fuels.
Find a CSU expert in our updated database