Southwest Fire Portal

Northern Arizona University School of Forestry seeks to fill one PhD position funded through a Teaching Assistantship. This position will focus on spatial patterns of wildfire disturbance related to forest dynamics, post-fire recovery, and biodiversity conservation in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. The PhD student will participate in and conduct investigations to quantify impacts of fire severity, fire frequency (e.g., short interval repeat fires), time since fire, and patch size and isolationon forest structure, composition, and regeneration dynamics.

The position start date is Fall 2021.

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 Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, is seeking qualified individuals to work on a research project funded through the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (South Central-CASC). The research aims to understand the nexus of climate change and prescribed fire risk analysis, tolerance, and communication.

The College of Geosciences at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX invites applications for two (2) Geoscience Future Faculty (GFF) Postdoctoral Research Associate Fellowships. This competitive fellowship is open to individuals who aspire to develop research programs of their own as faculty members. The College of Geosciences is one of the nation’s most comprehensive Earth-system colleges and is committed to the discovery, advancement and application of knowledge fundamental to understanding our planet and its resources for a sustainable future. The College's disciplinary research and educational excellence are built on cutting-edge analyses and observations, numerical simulations and theoretical studies, and field-based data collection at all spatial and temporal scales.

As part of advancing Stanford University’s IDEAL vision and commitment to diversity (broadly defined) among its faculty, students, and staff, the School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University (Stanford Earth) has established the Stanford Earth Postdoctoral Fellows program. This fellowship will support two outstanding scholars in the fields of Earth, energy, and environmental sciences, as well as other emerging fields in this area, whose research and mentorship of undergraduate and graduate students will contribute to diversity, equity, inclusion and scientific excellence within the school.

Applications will be considered beginning on December 11, 2020. Candidates are strongly encouraged to submit complete applications by that date for full consideration; however, applications will continue to be accepted until the fellowship positions are filled.

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.

The Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management (NREM) at Oklahoma State University invites applications for a full-time, eleven-month, tenure-track position (75% Research and 25% Teaching) in fire modeling. The department is seeking a candidate to contribute to research related to understanding wildland fire behavior and risk in Oklahoma and the United States. Application and/or development of models to understand fire behavior at multiple spatial scales is required. Possible outcomes of research include improved management of fuels and smoke with prescribed fire, reduction of wildfire risk and mitigation of its effects to infrastructure, reduced impacts of smoke on human health, and improved ecosystem function. The successful candidate is expected to work closely with multidisciplinary faculty in natural resources, climatology, social science, and engineering to meet the needs of diverse stakeholder groups.

Review of applications will begin December 15, 2020, and will continue until a suitable candidate is identified.  The position will be filled by June 1, 2021, or as soon thereafter as an outstanding candidate is available.

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.