As the next stage of the California Fire Science Seminar, we are hosting a career development panel and discussion targeted towards graduate and early career scientists. All are welcome to attend but we’re especially hoping to provide a virtual space for students and early career professionals to learn and explore the different career paths in fire science.
Our hope is to highlight the numerous paths towards becoming a professional in a fire-science-related field, including experiences of coming into fire science from different backgrounds and exploring diverse options of what you can do after graduation. We also hope to provide exposure to programs, fellowships and other resources that may help in the recruitment and retention of the next generation of fire scientists.
Format:
The first hour will host 4 panelists from very diverse fields as they share their stories and experiences. Panelists bio will be posted on this website soon.
The second hour will be a more informal session, using breakout rooms with additional professionals to answer questions. Our intention is to try and create a virtual space that allows for smaller group discussions and a ‘meet and great’ type of atmosphere, something similar to a career fair or conference workforce development lunch, where early career professionals and students can ask questions and connect with experts across multiple career stages and degrees. A combination of preset questions and audience solicited questions will be utilized.
Panel Speaker Bios:
Jamie Lydersen
Jamie is a Senior Environmental Scientist in the Fire and Resource Assessment Program at CAL FIRE. Her current work focuses on integrating climate data into the updated map of California’s Fire Hazard Severity Zones and conducting research focused on fire ecology, fire weather and forest restoration, with an emphasis on scientific questions that can be applied to management. Jamie received her MS degree in Ecology at UC Davis and BS in Biology from UC Santa Cruz. Prior to joining CAL FIRE she held research positions at the USFS Pacific Southwest Research Station and UC Berkeley.
Sara McAllister
Sara McAllister earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 2008 from the University of California, Berkeley. Her Ph.D. dissertation, sponsored by NASA, focused on material flammability in spacecraft. Since 2009, she has been a Research Mechanical Engineer with the U.S. Forest Service at the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. As part of the National Fire Decision Support Center, Sara’s research focuses on the fundamental governing mechanisms of wildland fire spread. Specifically, her research includes understanding the critical conditions for solid fuel ignition, flammability of live forest fuels, ignition due to convective heating, and fuel bed property effects on burning rate. She has authored a textbook on combustion fundamentals and over 80 peer-reviewed publications and conference papers. In her spare time, Sara enjoys cycling, running, and racing in triathlons.
Amber Soja
Dr. Amber Soja is currently an Associate Research Fellow at the National Institute of Aerospace and is resident at the NASA Langley Research Center. She has over 25 years of research experience in using remotely-sensed and Geographic Information System data to explore the interactions between fire regimes, the biosphere (fuels and land cover), atmosphere, weather, and climate. While her focus is generally on large-scale changes in fire regimes, her interest also extends to the impacts of fire and smoke on ecosystems, the atmosphere, air quality, and climate. Amber’s scientific career has been diverse, so following are a few notes that might help you develop questions and stimulate ideas that could be relevant for you.
Jean-Pierre Wack
Jean-Pierre’s diverse career reflects his drive to innovate and address environmental challenges. Currently based in the San Francisco Bay area, he focuses on forest health, ecosystem management, global warming and wildfire. He draws on SIG’s deep expertise in remote sensing, applied research and analytical capabilities to implement geospatial services. He has delivered international development programs in the peatland forests of Indonesia for UNICEF and Millenium Corporate Challenge. As part of a Hong Kong based technology company, Jean-Pierre delivered geospatial services for land-use change and agricultural productivity in Southeast Asia. In the domain of fire management, he has implemented fire management programs for early detection of forest fires in Indonesia, China and South Africa. He has a deep understanding of carbon analytics for forests, soils and buildings. The first half of his career was spent in the field of environmental design for buildings where he delivered flagship projects for zero-carbon homes, mass-timber 10 storey towers and passivhaus refurbishments in the historic environment of London. He received a MBA from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a Masters in Economics from the University of Strasbourg.
Second hour Breakout sessions:
Join the panelists, organizers, and additional career folks for some informal breakout sessions:
#1 Atmospheric Science and Emissions and Public Health
Amber Soja
ShihMing Huang, Manager, Wildland Fire and Smoke Group, Sonoma Tech
#2 Data science and technology
Jean-Pierre Wack
David Marvin, Salo Sciences
#3 Ecology and Land/Natural Resource Management
Jamie Lydersen
Nicole Vaillant, Fire Management Specialist, USDA Forest Service
Sarah Cardona, Deputy Director, Greenbelt Alliance
#4 Engineering and Physical Science
Sara McAllister
Daniel Gorham, Research Engineer, Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety
View recordings of past presentations on the Youtube playlist here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvPofWzmi8889iiaMSPtzUD0VLqxyo-fz
Visit the website for more information on past seminars
This event will be cross-posted at https://frg.berkeley.edu/spring-2021-california-fire-science-seminar-series/
To keep updated on developments and announcements please join our webinar listserv by emailing cafireseminar+subscribe@googlegroups.com
The series is organized by Michael Gollner (UC Berkeley), Crystal Kolden (UC Merced) Jeanette Cobain (UC Merced) and Stacey Sargent Frederick (UC Berkeley) and supported by the Berkeley Fire Research Group, College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Merced and the California Fire Science Consortium.
