Alaska Fire Portal

The SAF D4 Wildland Fire Working Group would like to solicit papers and presentations as part of the 2021 Society of American Foresters National Conference, Conference Topic: Forests For All. November 3-7th, 2021 in Sacramento, CA. Details are below and feel free to contact Bradley Shoemaker with any questions.

Abstract submissions for the 2021 SAF national convention will open February 1 and close March 31. Working groups are encouraged to organize sessions and/or panel discussions that contribute to the science content of the concurrent program. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about this, but have outlined below the general process that you'll need to follow. If you are organizing a session or panel, it's helpful if you let me know so we can keep better track of what to expect.

Your abstract matters! It is the only thing reviewers will see. You know your topic inside and out, but the reviewer doesn’t. Take time and care when writing your abstract - and encourage any presenters in an organized session to do the same. All submissions must pass review to be included in the program. The abstract submission form and review process has changed from recent years, so it's important to answer all required questions on the form intentionally.

Use the following process to submit a PROPOSAL FOR AN ORGANIZED SESSION(S) with a group of invited speakers, where each speaker will be making a presentation. (These may also be science flashes.)

First, submit an abstract for the organized session proposal itself.
1) Select ‘organized session proposal’ as the abstract type.
2) Select the basis for the session content and answer additional questions, if any.
3) Select the track, theme, and technical focus area
4) Enter the title of the session.
5) Provide the following information in the "Full Abstract" text box:
      This is a session proposed by X Working Group or name of individual.
      Speakers will discuss XXXX. We are requesting X 90-minute sessions.
      The speakers are: A - title or topic of the talk, B - title or topic of the talk, C - title or topic of the talk, etc.
6) Select "Yes" for "Is your presentation part of an organized panel/session?"
7) Provide the name of the Working Group lead or the coordinator name in the coordinator box.
8) Re-enter the panel/session title in the Session Title box.

Each speaker must then submit his/her/their own abstract by the March 31st deadline to the same track, theme, and technical focus area, selecting ‘presentation’ or ‘science flash’ as appropriate for the abstract type, and filling in the title of the talk, description, and full abstract.
In addition, enter:
      The title of the session in the Session Title box. (Preferably the same one as you submitted.)
      The session leader’s name in the Working Group or Lead Coordinator box. (Preferably the same one you submitted.)

Use the following process to submit a PROPOSAL FOR A PANEL DISCUSSION, where speakers will not be making formal presentations – i.e., the group of speakers will have a discussion on the topic based on questions posed by the moderator or audience.

Submit an abstract for the panel.
1) Select ‘panel discussion’ as the abstract type.
2) Select the basis for the session content and answer additional questions, if any.
3) Answer the Funding Sources and Financial Disclosures questions as appropriate.
4) Select the track, theme, and technical focus area
5) Enter the title of the panel/session.
6) Provide the following information in the "Full Abstract" text box:
      Describe what the panel will discuss
      The speakers are: A - name, organization; B - name, organization; C - name, organization, etc.
      This session is sponsored by the X Working Group. (optional)
7) Select "Yes" for "Is your presentation part of an organized panel/session?"
8) Provide the name of the Working Group lead or the coordinator name in the coordinator box.

WGs are of course welcome to submit proposals for professional development seminars or workshops as well as for organized sessions or panel discussions.

The Department of Applied Ecology at North Carolina State University, in collaboration with the Department of Statistics, the North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, and the USGS Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, will be hiring a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in data science to assist with efforts to develop a prototype early warning system for Prescribed Fire Managers (PFMs). The primary research objective of the successful candidate is to characterize short, medium, and long-term climatological-risk for PFMs in the Southeast US, and to build a framework that allows for optimal decision making under uncertainty.

The successful candidate will work with Drs. Brian Reich (Statistics), Jaime Collazo (Applied Ecology), and Adam Terando (USGS) to model environmental conditions conducive to prescribed burning activities over time scales of days to decades in the future. Three major objectives of the position include 1). Define, identify, and model ‘fail-states’, or the sets of conditions that PFMs wish to avoid 2) Model risk exposure of PFMs given existing numerical model simulations of future climate over near-term (days) to long-term (decades) time scales, and 3) develop spatio-temporal models to characterize extreme wildfire risk on decadal time scales.

The incumbent will also join a national cohort as part of the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Postdoctoral Fellows (CAPF) Program. The SE CAPF scholar will collaborate with other cohort scholars from across the country on national-scale research and synthesis on climate-fire issues and participate in regular training and professional development opportunities, including training on translational ecology, co-production of actionable science with natural resource decision-makers, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

This is a two (2) year position, contingent on availability of funding, based in the Department of Applied Ecology and the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center at North Carolina State University in close collaboration with the Department of Statistics. The successful candidate will be jointly mentored by Drs. Brian Reich, Adam Terando, and Jaime Collazo.

The Alaska CASC and the University of Alaska Fairbanks are seeking early career researchers interested in wildland fire and climate change. We are searching for a scientist interested in boreal wildfire dynamics and natural resource management in Alaska including delivering actionable science that meets the needs of wildland fire managers from a regional to national scale.

The postdoctoral fellow will join a national cohort as part of the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Postdoctoral Fellows (CAPF) Program. The fellow will lead a regionally focused research project. In addition, the fellow will join the other regional fellows from across the country on national-scale synthesis work as well as participate in a series of training and professional development opportunities, including training on translational ecology, co-production of actionable science with natural resource decision-makers and interdisciplinary collaboration.

This is a two-year position based at the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) at UAF that will be jointly supervised and mentored by Dr. Scott Rupp at UAF and Dr. Jeremy Littell with the US Geological Survey at the AK CASC in Anchorage, Alaska.

The Wilderness Fellow Program is seeking qualified candidates to fill Wilderness Fellow positions.  Fellows are based in locations around the country, with a significant amount of travel within their base region.   Work is roughly 80% office based and 20% field-based and is performed at USFS offices to directly support the goals of a collaborative wilderness character monitoring initiative currently underway in the USFS.

Primary Wilderness Fellow Responsibilities

• Attend one-week training in Granby, Colorado (travel provided; training may be remote).
• Work out of remote USFS locations, residing in USFS housing.
• Coordinate meetings with USFS resource specialists and line officers to gather information regarding wilderness character.
• Research, compile, and analyze legislative and administrative historical data per wilderness area.
• Travel to and into wilderness areas.
• Select indicators relevant for each wilderness area to monitor wilderness character over time.
• Compile and analyze data for selected monitoring indicators and complete a baseline assessment for wilderness character monitoring.
• Implement inventory and monitoring strategies for tracking wilderness character.
• Write a wilderness character baseline assessment for each wilderness area worked in.
• Participate in weekly conference calls.
• Set and meet benchmarks and deadlines for data collection, meetings, and draft and final reports.

This position is located with Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Trust Services, Location Negotiable After Selection.

Summer work locations and duties vary and are designed to provide hands on experience and training.

Successful completion of the Pathways Internship Program, students may be non-competitively placed into career-conditional positions within the BIA.

The first cut-off date for referral of applications to be considered for available vacant positions will be 2/24/2021.

Internship work assignment opportunities are based on BIA needs. Under this announcement, real estate services, land titles and records, minerals and energy, and forestry management programs will be given priority consideration. However, selections may be made for other program areas, including for the following targeted positions:

• Environmental
• Archeology
• Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences
• Cartographic
• Rangeland or Agriculture Management
• Soil Conservation
• Forestry
• Accounting
• Civil Engineering
• Petroleum Engineering
• Legal Instruments Examining
• Realty
• Irrigation System Operation
• Hydrology

The National Park Service is looking for temporary employees to work as Fire Effects Monitors (Biological Science Technicians).

This announcement has a cut-off date of 02/16/2021. The following locations will begin to consider applicants prior to the closing date of the announcement. You must apply on or before the date indicated below to receive first consideration. Thereafter, applications may be considered as needed, during the open period of the announcement:

• Denali, AK (Denali NP&P)
• Grand Canyon, AZ (Grand Canyon NP)
• Estes Park, CO (Rocky Mtn. NP)
• West Glacier, MT (Glacier NP)
• Big Bend NP, TX (Big Bend NP)
• Fritch, TX (Lake Meredith NRA)
• Springdale, UT (Zion NP)
• Luray, VA (Shenandoah NP)
• Mammoth, WY (Yellowstone NP)
• Moose, WY (Grand Teton NP)

We are looking to support a PhD student (stipend, tuition, health coverage) to work on a NSF project, Managing Future Risk of Increasing Simultaneous Megafires starting as early as summer 2021. This project will involve colleagues at the University of Washington and National Center for Atmospheric Research with expertise in climate science, public policy, and fire ecology. Elements of this work are to understand biophysical influences on fire activity at different scales, particularly related to widespread lightning-ignited fires, and develop convergent approaches for understanding how the confluence of fire suppression and land management approaches can ameliorate future synchronous large fires.

The Stanford University School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth) seeks candidates for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor. Consistent with Stanford University’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEAL) vision and commitment to diversity (broadly defined) among its faculty, students, and staff, we especially seek to attract applications from promising scholars with historically underrepresented backgrounds in traditional STEM fields, as well as in emerging areas of Earth, Energy, and Environmental sciences, including research areas that intersect with societal issues. All four Stanford Earth departments are partnering in this search and a successful candidate will be appointed in one of the following:

Earth System Science - We study the world’s air, water, land, and life as an integrated system. As scientists, we unite basic and purpose-driven research to chronicle how the Earth functions, the many ways it is changing, and what the consequences of changes will be for people and other species. We believe that science can improve the world by enabling us to understand, predict, and solve the pressing issues of global environmental change.

Energy Resources Engineering - We train future leaders in the science and engineering of Earth's energy resources. We combine theory, experiments, and computation to understand and influence the global energy resources landscape. We are committed to leading the way to provide the people, methods, and tools for sustainable management of the Earth's energy resources.  

Geological Sciences - We study the properties of minerals, rocks, soils, sediments and water, using multiple lenses -- stratigraphy, paleobiology, geochemistry, and planetary sciences. Their work informs our understanding of natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and floods. It helps us meet natural resource challenges through environmental and geological engineering, mapping and land use planning, surface and groundwater management, and the exploration and sustainable extraction of energy and minerals. It also helps us answer fundamental questions about the origin, history, and habitability of planets.

Geophysics - We study Earth and planetary processes through laboratory experiments, computational and theoretical modeling, remote imaging, and direct observation. At Stanford, our teaching and research focus on understanding systems critical to the future of civilization. We apply expertise to fundamental research sustaining life on Earth, combining underlying science with studies of Earth’s environment and resource needs.

The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, seeks applicants for five tenure-track positions at the level of Assistant Professor in the thematic area of restoring and protecting global biodiversity. The Faculty of Science, together with the Faculties of Arts, Forestry, and Land and Food Systems, is sponsoring this unique cluster hire, which builds on existing excellence in this area at UBC. These new hires will join an interdisciplinary research and scholarship team focused on solutions-oriented approaches to biodiversity loss, and its connection to sustainability and adaptive capacity for humanity. For further information see https://biodiversity.ubc.ca/cluster-hire

As part of the cluster, we seek a Conservation and Restoration Scientist to be jointly appointed in the Departments of Botany, and Forest & Conservation Sciences, with opportunities for strong interaction with UBC’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum and Biodiversity Research Centre. The Conservation and Restoration Scientist will conduct research broadly investigating how to conserve and protect biodiversity, and restore functioning ecosystems in a changing world. Applicants should have an interest in integrating fundamental research on restoring biodiversity, ecosystem functions or adaptive capacity, with applied research on conservation and restoration strategies that involve engagement with communities, industry or governments. Their expertise will be in ecology (including applied ecology), conservation, evolutionary biology, forestry, geography, or related disciplines. We encourage applicants who use a range of empirical or theoretical approaches, applying them to real-world problems from local to global scales, in terrestrial or aquatic ecosystems, and working in plant, animal or fungal systems.

On April 6, 2020, the Fire Management Board (FMB) established the Wildland Fire Medical and Public Health Advisory Team (MPHAT) to address medical and health-related issues specific to the interagency administration of mission critical wildland fire management functions under a COVID-19 modified operating posture.  The COVID-19 MPHAT is tasked with providing medical and public health expertise, advice, coordination, and collaboration with external subject matter experts and developing protocols and practices for all aspects of COVID-19 planning, prevention, and mitigation for wildland fire operations.  Guidance found on this page has been issued via FMB Memorandum. They may be updated as appropriate and necessary to respond to the evolving situations and work conditions surrounding COVID-19.

With multiple agencies/entities, groups and task forces all working to find solutions for operational concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, the need for a space to share information is apparent. This forum serves as a platform to ask questions, as well as to share ideas, information, and solutions.