How can science help us to fight bushfires?
All will be revealed in this National Science Week online event, featuring experts from the Bureau of Meteorology and the University of Melbourne.
In a crisis, creativity is required to solve problems. As bushfires blazed across vast areas of Australia in the devastating summer of 2019–20, scientists from diverse fields came together to find solutions.
The fires were a stark example of our changing climate.
To explain how science can help us tackle future bushfire seasons, we’ll be joined by Sandra Whight, an ecologist who has more than 25 years’ experience as a firefighter and operational decision-maker and is now with the Bureau of Meteorology, along with Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher, an Indigenous scientist at the University of Melbourne who specialises in fire ecology, climatology and geology.
Find out what the research is telling us, and just how we can adapt to prevent and reduce disastrous bushfires.
Your host for the evening, Michelle Tapper, is Supervising Video Producer at the Australian Academy of Science and has worked in television for many years. The discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A where you can ask questions of the experts.
Register now to join this event and explore how science can help us with future fires.
Sandra Whight
Sandra is General Manager Decision Support Services at the Bureau of Meteorology. She started in land management as a ranger in NSW and a bushfire specialist, and was recently the Director of Community Fire Safety at the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS). Sandra supports the emergency management sector to adapt and respond to the challenges of climate change. She is passionate about using science and contemporary research, and risk-based approaches to shape policy and prepare communities to be more resilient and safer from the impacts of fire.
Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher
Michael-Shawn Fletcher is an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Melbourne. He is interested in the long-term interactions between humans, climate, disturbance and vegetation at local, regional and global scales. Much of his research focuses on the role of Aboriginal people in creating the Australian landscape—many places we consider wilderness were created intentionally with fire by Aboriginal people to make landscapes resource rich for them.
How can science help us to fight bushfires?
All will be revealed in this online event, featuring experts from the Bureau of Meteorology and the University of Melbourne.
In a crisis, creativity is required to solve problems. As bushfires blazed across vast areas of Australia in the devastating summer of 2019–20, scientists from diverse fields came together to find solutions.
The fires were a stark example of our changing climate.
To explain how science can help us tackle future bushfire seasons, we’ll be joined by Sandra Whight, an ecologist who has more than 25 years’ experience as a firefighter and operational decision-maker and is now with the Bureau of Meteorology, along with Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher, an Indigenous scientist at the University of Melbourne who specialises in fire ecology, climatology and geology.
Find out what the research is telling us, and just how we can adapt to prevent and reduce disastrous bushfires.
Your host for the evening, Michelle Tapper, is Supervising Video Producer at the Australian Academy of Science and has worked in television for many years. The discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A where you can ask questions of the experts.
to join this event and explore how science can help us with future fires.
Sandra Whight
Sandra is General Manager Decision Support Services at the Bureau of Meteorology. She started in land management as a ranger in NSW and a bushfire specialist, and was recently the Director of Community Fire Safety at the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS). Sandra supports the emergency management sector to adapt and respond to the challenges of climate change. She is passionate about using science and contemporary research, and risk-based approaches to shape policy and prepare communities to be more resilient and safer from the impacts of fire.
Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher
Michael-Shawn Fletcher is an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Melbourne. He is interested in the long-term interactions between humans, climate, disturbance and vegetation at local, regional and global scales. Much of his research focuses on the role of Aboriginal people in creating the Australian landscape—many places we consider wilderness were created intentionally with fire by Aboriginal people to make landscapes resource rich for them.
false DD/MM/YYYY© 2024 Australian Academy of Science
