[Enviro-lunch] Enviro-Lunch seminar this Thursday (9/17): Dr. Crystal Kolden

[Kyungjin Min]

[image: image.png]

Hello all,

This week the Enviro-Lunch Seminar series welcomes Dr. Crystal Kolden at UC
Merced. Please join us on Sep 17th between 12-1 pm.

Join Zoom Meeting Enviro-lunch

https://ucmerced.zoom.us/j/175736103

Meeting ID: 175 736 103

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+16699006833,,175736103# US (San Jose)

+16468769923,,175736103# US (New York)



*Title:*

The cascading consequences of wildfire: understanding and mitigating
impacts to coupled human-natural systems



*Abstract:*

Relative to other disciplines, wildfire science is still a relatively
nascent field. Much of the focus in wildfire science over the past
half-century has been on predicting fire behavior and first-order
ecological effects based on *post hoc *observations and inference, with
less emphasis on controlled experimentation or understanding the broader
impacts of fire beyond the immediate ecological outcomes of combustion.
This has revealed a substantial gap in our scientific understanding of how
wildfires become disasters, and how to mitigate such disasters. The widely
touted concept of “living with fire” can only be achieved by mitigating
wildfire vulnerability across highly heterogeneous socio-ecological systems
and identifying the web of interconnected components that comprise the
vulnerable elements of these systems. This requires 1) understanding
socioecological and biophysical drivers of wildfire disasters, 2)
identifying place-based mitigation strategies appropriate to the
component-at-risk, and 3) developing structural approaches to implement
these strategies. Here, I present a conceptual framework for quantifying
and characterizing wildfire disasters and an overview of drivers of
wildfire disasters distinct from drivers of fire activity. I also present
two case studies illustrating successful long-term wildfire mitigation
campaigns in California and the Pacific Northwest and how each of these
mitigation efforts reduces vulnerability both to the critical ecological
function and facets and the human communities-at-risk. The first case study
focuses on community wildfire mitigation in Santa Barbara County,
California, and the unintended benefits of community vulnerability
mitigation to the biodiverse chaparral ecosystem. The second case study
addresses mitigation the wildfire vulnerability of municipal drinking water
in Portland, Oregon, in an ecologically complex and Congressionally
protected forest watershed. These case studies demonstrate the both the
ecological benefits and the cascading consequences of integrated approaches
to wildfire mitigation.



*Bio:*

 [image: ckolden.jpg]

Dr. Crystal Kolden is currently an Assistant Professor of Fire Science in
the Management of Complex System department at UC Merced and a former
wildland firefighter for the US Forest Service. She received her doctorate
in Geography from Clark University and served as a research scientist for
both USFS and US Geological Survey prior to her academic career. She
conducts research across a broad spectrum of natural hazards topics at the
human-environment nexus and seeks to reduce vulnerability to climate change
disasters globally through a combination of applied science and outreach.





KJ, Manisha, and Anna



Organizers for Fall 2020: KJ Min, Manisha Dolui, Anna Jurusik

Faculty coordinator: Asmeret Asefaw Berhe



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You can find the semester schedule below.



*date*

*speaker*

*topic*

  9/10

Shane Franklin

@ U of Delaware

Preferential flow plays an unknown role in the carbon cycle

9/17

Crystal Kolden

@ UC Merced

The cascading consequences of wildfire: understanding and mitigating
impacts to coupled human-natural systems

9/24

Allegra Mayer

@ UC Berkeley

Soil C sequestration potential in CA grasslands with compost amendments

10/1

Govind Dev Kumar

@ UGA

Salmonella's Trojan Horse Strategy to Evade Antimicrobial Stress

10/8

Charlotte Decock

@ Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Soil health and fertility assessment

10/15

Emma Hauser

@ U of Kansas

Integrated rooting system development and soil development structures
ecosystem nutrient dynamics

10/22

Will Kew

@ PNNL

High resolution mass spectrometry applied to organic matter/complex mixtures

10/29

Mary Salcedo

@ Virginia Tech

Form and function of insect wing veins

11/5

Todd Longbottom

@ UC Merced

Oxidative weathering of ancient organic matter and formation of modern soils

11/12

Asmeret Asefaw Berhe @ UC Merced

Finding and securing grants for students & postdocs

11/19

Adeyemi Adebiyi

@ UC Merced

How much solar radiation does atmospheric mineral dust absorb?

11/26

Thanksgiving holiday



12/3

Yamina Pressler

@ Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Soil food webs and organic matter in fire-affected savanna ecosystems

12/10

AGU
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