Research Projects


The Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Lab has worked in collaboration with many other labs, state agencies, and governments both abroad and at home on a variety of research projects.

Current Research Projects:

Wildfire Hazard Prediction Systems in South America

Some Past Research Projects:

  1. Determining community-based mitigation solutions for long-term wildland fire/flood risks. Collaborator: Prof. Robert Freitag, UW College of Built Environments.
  2. Washington Forest Resiliency Burning Pilot: Fuel Characterization, Tree Mortality Assessment and Air Quality Monitoring and Analysis. Collaborators Roger Ottmar and Susan O’Neil, USFS PNW Research Station.
  3. The consequences of soil heating for prescribed fire use and fire restoration in the South. Collaborators: Prof. Leda Koziar, University of Idaho and Dr. Morgan Varner, USFS PNW Research Station.
  4. Evaluating the effects of salvage logging and developing fire resilient forests on the Colville Reservation and Colville National Forest in Washington and El Dorado National Forest in California. Collaborators: Dr. Morris Johnson, USFS PNW Research Station, Dr. Tom de Luca, Colton Miller, Melissa Pingree, SEFS UW.
  5. Nisqually Garry Oak Habitat: Cultural and Ecological Considerations for Successful Restoration in the Nisqually Tribal Reservation. Collaborator Ashley Blazina
  6. Solutions for Current and Future Wildfires: Physical and Ecological Models for Fire, Fuels, and Smoke in Ecosystems and the Wildland Urban Interface.
  7. Improving estimates of future fires, fire emissions, and smoke.
  8. Research on Fire, Fuels, Landscape Ecology, and the Wildland-Urban-Interface.
  9. Detailed fuelbed characterization, mapping, and future fire hazard assessment for Eglin Air Force Base, FL. Collaborator James Cronan
  10. Fire management tools for Mexico’s Biosphere Reserves and Protected Areas. USFS International Program.
  11. Biomass estimation, carbon emissions, smoke chemistry, carbon fluxes, recovery of burned areas, flammability modeling, combustion modeling in the Amazon Forest in Brazil.
  12. Fuel characterization and classification to generate and validate fuel models for Mexico. PI: Dr. Diego Perez-Salicrup. Mexico’s UNAM
  13. Development of a forest fire risk rating for Mexico. PI: Dr. Daniel Vega, University of Durango, Mexico.