team highlights from wildland fire Canada 2022

The Wildland Fire Canada 2022 Conference and Canadian Smoke Forum was recently held in Edmonton, Alberta, October 31st to November 4th, 2022, thanks to the efforts of the International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF). Eleven current and past members of the Wildfire Analytics research team attended the event and collectively, our team was involved in nine different conference contributions:

Presentations:​​

• Sonja Leverkus: “Vegetation Response to a Natural Gas Pipeline Rupture Fire in Canada’s Montane Cordillera”
• Nathan Phelps: “Classifying forest fuels with fuel inventory data in fire-prone ecosystems of Alberta”
• Ilbin Lee: “Estimating the impact of suppression resources on initial attack success” 
• Air Forbes: “Spatial configuration and directional assessment of landscape fire exposure”
• ​Hilary Cameron: “Using smartphones to characterize ground and canopy fuels”

Posters:

• Andrew Stack: “Effects of Forest Density on Initial Attack Success: Predicting Wildfire Escape With Information Derived from Oblique Aerial Photography”
• Kennedy Korkola: “Wildfire containment: The effects of eastern spruce budworm on initial attack effectiveness” and “Wildfire containment objectives and modelling strategies: a case study in Ontario, Canada”
• Siqi Mo: “Detecting the influence of landcover factors on fire containment in the Boreal Forest Region of Alberta”

After the conference, we compiled highlights shared by our Wildfire Analytics team members (see below).

Wildfire Analytics at the Wildland Fire Canada 2022 Conference, Edmonton, Alberta - back row: Andrew, Nathan, Siqi, Jared, Carter, Katia, Jen; front row - Air and Hilary. Missing conference attendees: Sonja and Kennedy.

​“The conference was such a fun networking opportunity and it was great to see so many faces in real life after two years of online correspondence. I had a great time presenting in front of a live audience and look forward to more events in the future.” Air Forbes, PhD Candidate, University of Alberta

“I was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet all of our lab members in person and have a chance to see all of those who presented at the conference! Just starting out in the world of wildfire has been overwhelming to say the least, but I am so honored to be part of a research group that puts forward such important work! The highlight(s) of the conference for me was watching our research groups presentations, and the networking opportunities that I was able to have throughout the days of the conference with experts from all across Canada.” Carter Kuiper, MSc Candidate, University of Alberta

“As a new graduate student, I was excited to meet with other researchers and practitioners that share my passion for wildland fire science. I found that with each connection, I learned a new piece of information I had never considered, and I am excited to see where my colleagues, both old and new, go with their research.” Jared Randall, MSc Candidate, University of Alberta

“I was honoured to present my work at the conference, and it was eye-opening for my first time connecting with different fire professionals in the field. It was engaging and fun to network with enthusiastic people in various areas and get to know them personally. I would love to contribute more to the fire community in the future.” Siqi Mo, MSc Candidate, University of Alberta

 

“One of my highlights was getting to meet a bunch of other graduate students from other universities and building connections to that I now have my own link to several labs across the country.” Nathan Phelps, former Research Associate with Wildfire Analytics, current PhD Candidate at Western University

"The opportunities to connect and share ideas these last few years have been few and far in-between. It was so wonderful to finally be able to see old friends and meet the new members of the Wildfire Analytics Lab! The diverse array of research focuses, careers, and general hobbies within the Wildfire Analytics Lab always make for awesome and inspiring conversations. Great job everyone and can’t wait to see you again soon!” Hilary Cameron, MSc graduate University of Alberta and current Resource Management Officer II with Parks Canada

“I was delighted to see all the members of our lab participating fully in the conference - from attending networking opportunities to presenting papers and posters to joining in all of the events and keynote addresses.  It is an honour to be in the Wildfire Analytics lab and to see our next wildland fire leaders emerging on a national stage!” Dr. Sonja Leverkus, Adjunct Professor, University of Alberta and Ecosystem Scientist, Shifting Mosaics Consulting 
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“This conference was packed with diverse and thought-provoking content on a wide array of fire science and management subtopics. After suffering through years of online conferences, it was particularly refreshing to have the opportunity to interact with participants face-to-face, but by far the best part of the conference for me was seeing our team members share their research results and connect with an ever-expanding fire research community from across Canada and the world.” Dr. Jen Beverly, Assistant Professor, University of Alberta.