Note to Editors: As Colorado and the nation’s wildfire season continues, CSU is providing the following list of experts who can address a variety of information about wildfires and emergency preparedness. Additional experts are available. Below are CSU experts whose work is most relevant to current wildfires. The tip sheet can be found at source.colostate.edu/media-tip-sheet-wildfire and will be updated with new experts periodically. The tip sheet is intended to provide resources to the media but not contact information for the public.
Wildfire behavior and risk, mitigation, economics, forest health
Tony Cheng, professor in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship and director of the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute
Strategies and challenges associated with managing forests and forest fires in Colorado and across the Western U.S., how organizations address wildfire threats, from national-level policy to local community wildfire mitigation and forest restoration efforts
Media contact: Mary Guiden, mary.guiden@colostate.edu, 970-491-6892
Kristin Garrison, Colorado State Forest Service assistant division supervisor, Fire/Fuels Management
Cooperative fire programs with other states, prescribed fire – pile burning in winter to reduce fuels resulting from forest management actions – and CSFS-administered competitive grants that help recipients address wildfire risk in Colorado.
Media contact: Ryan Lockwood, ryan.lockwood@colostate.edu, 970-491-8970
Chad Hoffman, assistant professor in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship
Fire behavior and modeling, fuels management and wildfire hazard and risk reduction, disturbance ecology, fire and bark beetle interactions, fire and forest pathogen interactions
Media contact: Mary Guiden, mary.guiden@colostate.edu, 970-491-6892
Rich Homann, Colorado State Forest Service staff forester, Cooperative Fire Programs
Colorado Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal (CO-WRAP), a CSFS-managed online mapping tool that provides access to statewide wildfire risk assessment information at https://www.coloradowildfirerisk.com/
Media contact: Ryan Lockwood, ryan.lockwood@colostate.edu, 970-491-8970
Courtney Peterson, Colorado State Forest Service Wildfire Mitigation education coordinator
Fire mitigation near homes and communities; Community Wildfire Protection Plans in Colorado; the Firewise Communities USA program; Fire Adapted Communities; and questions about CSFS educational programs that address fire mitigation
Media contact: Ryan Lockwood, ryan.lockwood@colostate.edu, 970-491-8970
Doug Rideout, professor in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship and director of the Western Forest Fire Research Center
Economics and management of wild and prescribed fires, the wildland-urban interface, strategic analysis and budgeting of fire programs, fuel management and initial attack systems
Media contact: Mary Guiden, mary.guiden@colostate.edu, 970-491-6892
Monique Rocca, associate professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability Wildland fire management, invasive species, climate change, and land use change Media contact: Mary Guiden, mary.guiden@colostate.edu, 970-491-6892
Irene Shonle, director of CSU Extension in Gilpin County
Works with residents of Gilpin County on emergency preparedness and fire mitigation.
Media Contact: Joanne Littlefield, joanne.littlefield@colostate.edu, (970) 491-4640, (970) 980-5880
Weather
Nolan Doesken, Colorado State Climatologist
Short- and long-term Western weather conditions that cause or sustain wildfires, outlook for potential new ignitions
Media Contact: Anne Manning, anne.manning@colostate.edu, 970-491-7099
Health effects
Sheryl Magzamen, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences
Potential health effects of wood smoke
Media contact: Mary Guiden, mary.guiden@colostate.edu, 970-491-6892
John Volckens, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and CSU Energy Institute
Air pollution sources, emissions, and health effects from smoke, particulate matter and combustion byproducts; occupational and environmental exposure and risk assessment
Media contact: Anne Manning, anne.manning@colostate.edu, 970-491-7099
Protecting pets, horses and livestock, including emergency preparedness
Ragan Adams, veterinarian in the Department of Clinical Sciences
Animal disaster response planning in the context of general emergency preparedness on personal and community levels
Media contact: Mary Guiden mary.guiden@colostate.edu, 970-491-6892
Sharon Bokan, small acreage coordinator, Boulder County Extension
Issues encountered on small acreages including pasture and grazing management, weed management, emergency preparedness, livestock information.
Media Contact: Joanne Littlefield, joanne.littlefield@colostate.edu, (970) 491-4640, (970) 980-5880
Rebecca Ruch-Gallie, veterinarian and assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences
How temperatures in the summer can affect dogs, cats and other pets; the effects of wildfire smoke on pets.
Media contact: Mary Guiden mary.guiden@colostate.edu, 970-491-6892
Mental and emotional impacts of trauma
Shawn Whitney, assistant director of the CSU Center for Family and Couple Therapy
The mental and emotional impacts of trauma, such as the loss of a home to wildfire.
Media contact: Jeff Dodge, Jeff.Dodge@colostate.edu, 970-491-4251
