The 2026 California Fire Science Seminar Series
The California Fire Science Seminar Series will return on January 21, 2025, at 11 am. Join us for weekly virtual presentations and discussions on emerging fire science topics from a range of topics and speakers.
Wednesday 1/21/26 – 11:00 AM: A framework for reconstructing pre-Euroamerican fire regimes in California
Wednesday 1/28/26 – 11:00 AM: Extreme wildfire ecology: lessons learned for integrated fire management
Wednesday 2/4/26 – 11:00 AM: To be announced
Friday 2/6/26 – 11:00 AM: To be announced
Wednesday 2/11/26 – 11:00 AM: To be announced
Wednesday 2/25/26 – 11:00 AM: Wildfire Impacts on California’s Agricultural Sector
Wednesday 3/11/26 – 11:00 AM: To be announced
Friday 3/13/26 – 11:00 AM: After the Fire: Biodiversity on a Burning Planet
Wednesday 3/18/26 – 10:00 AM: Wildland Fire Last of the old school
Friday 3/20/26 – 12:00 PM: To be announced
Upcoming Seminars
A framework for reconstructing pre-Euroamerican fire regimes in California
Date: January 21, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM PT
Abstract: California’s fire regimes are shifting at an accelerating pace, driving ecosystem degradation and increasing risks to human communities. Effective, science-based responses require a strong foundation of evidence. As the use of fire as a management tool expands, it is critical to demonstrate its ecological benefits while carefully considering trade-offs such as smoke emissions. A key step in addressing this challenge is establishing the baseline conditions that existed before Euroamerican settlement (pre-1850). In this lecture, I will present a methodological framework for updating historical fire regime models and mapping in California, drawing on traditional ecological knowledge of fire use, historical maps, and scientific publications. This approach illustrates how archaeological evidence can be analytically integrated into large-scale, quantitative models, with significant implications for modern fire ecology. Reconstructing historical fire regimes also provides insight into long-term processes that profoundly influence current and future ecological dynamics.
Presented by: Andrea Duane, PhD
Dr. Andrea Duane is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis, where she has been working since 2023. Before joining UC Davis, she built her research career in Spain, earning her Ph.D. at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in collaboration with the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia. Her research focuses on quantifying changes in fire regimes, understanding their driving mechanisms, and assessing their impacts on ecosystems. Ultimately, her goal is to generate rigorous, policy-relevant knowledge that supports decision-making in the context of a changing climate, where the frequency and intensity of extreme wildfire events are projected to increase. In recognition of her contributions, she received the 2025 Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Research from UC Davis.
Extreme wildfire ecology: lessons learned for integrated fire management
Date: January 28, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM PT
Abstract: Coming Soon
Presented by: Marc Castellnou, Wildland Fire Incident Commander and Fire Analyst, Catalan Fire Service, Spain
Marc Castellnou is an extrategic wildfire analyst and Incident Commander with the Catalan Fire Service in Spain, a role he has held since 1999. He has served as Chief of the Bombers GRAF Forest Fire Branch since 2001 and has been the director of the Catalan prescribed fire program since 1999. Since 2016, he has been a senior expert member of the European Civil Protection Mechanism. From 2011 to 2020, he served as President of the Pau Costa Foundation. His work has been recognized with the IAWF Safety Award in 2015 and the Batefuegos de Oro Award in 2021. He is also a Master Fuego professor at the University of Lleida (UdL), Spain.
Wildfire Impacts on California’s Agricultural Sector
Date: February 25, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM PT
Abstract: Wildfire smoke is becoming a challenge for California’s agricultural regions, affecting both crop production and the communities that sustain it. This talk examines how wildfire and wildfire smoke are reshaping risks to California agriculture, using the wine grape sector as a central case study. Evidence from wine grape yields suggests that wildfire smoke is becoming an important driver of crop productivity, shifting crop yield modeling from being primarily climate driven to models that incorporate wildfire smoke to accurately capture trends. As wildfire activity intensifies under climate change, how will these crop yield impacts evolve under future climate scenarios through the end of the century? At the same time, these impacts can have wide reaching impacts on agricultural communities that work and sustain our food systems. Understanding these risks also depends on the structure of existing data systems, which shape what aspects of agricultural life are visible and measurable. Commonly used federal datasets often overlook features such as seasonal labor, employment variability, and access to health care, complicating efforts to fully characterize wildfire impacts on agricultural communities. This talk will address how together these impacts underscore the growing links between wildfire, agricultural production, and the communities that sustain California’s agriculture.
Presented by: Astrid Hoefler, PhD
Astrid Hoefler is an environmental researcher whose work examines how climate change and wildfire smoke affect crop productivity, labor, and resilience in California’s agricultural systems. She recently completed her PhD in Environmental Studies at the University of California Santa Cruz, where she focused on understanding how increasing wildfire activity and smoke exposure influence agricultural outcomes in the wine grape sector. Her work integrates climate science and agricultural data to better understand climate driven risks and variability across regions. Astrid is interested in applied research that supports climate adaptation, wildfire resilience, and decision making at the intersection of science and policy.
After the Fire: Biodiversity on a Burning Planet
Date: March 13, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM PT
Abstract: Fire is a critical and natural part of many ecosystems, but the nature of fire is rapidly shifting due to climate change. From a biological perspective, fire is a regular disturbance that affects the distribution and abundance of species and has shaped evolution for millions of years. Nevertheless, we are entering an unprecedented period where the dominant nature of fire is rapidly changing, disrupting both human and animal lives. This disruption occurs primarily during active fires, when flames and smoke can impact animal lives and fitness, but fire leaves long-lasting imprints on the environment, impacting animal distributions and behavior for decades. In this lecture, Dr. Morgan Tingley will discuss the myriad ways that fire has shaped the ecology of animals, primarily birds, and how the shifting nature of fire – particularly pyrodiversity – is impacting biodiversity. By learning how species are currently responding to a rapidly changing world, we are offered a glimpse into what our increasingly flammable future will hold.
Presented by: Morgan Tingley, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA
Morgan Tingley joined the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2020, after previously serving as an Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a recipient of the “Wings across the Americas” conservation award from the U.S. Forest Service and is currently the President-Elect of the American Ornithological Society. His more than 100 research papers have been covered widely by the popular press, including features by The New York Times, LA Times, Audubon Magazine, NPR, and Washington Post.
Wildland Fire: Last of the old school
Date: March 18, 2026
Time: 10:00 AM PT
Presented by: Rick Napoles, Bishop Paiute Tribe; Tribal Liaison to the Bishop Paiute Tribe and the Whitebark Institute; Tribal Representative to the Eastern Sierra Wildfire Alliance and the Intertribal Agriculture Council; and a member of the Tribal Environmental Protection Act Board.
My name is Richard Joseph Napoles, I am a member of the Bishop Paiute Tribe. My family spent our lives between Los Angeles and Bishop CA, most of my family lives in Bishop CA. We call the Eastern Sierra our homeland. My values are tied to Paiute people and the land. My life’s work is oriented towards the outdoors and adaptive land management. Wildland fire is one of the fastest and biggest drivers of landscape change, wildland fire is complex, dynamic and time-sensitive, constantly reminding us we are just humans upon this earth. The thirty-six years I have spent working for the United States Forest Service has taught me so much about the science of fire and the art of leadership. I am passionate about working with fire and in service to this landscape and community that I call home.
Currently, I work part time for the Sierra Institute as Tribal Liaison to the Bishop Paiute Tribe and Whitebark Institute. I am the Tribal representative to the Eastern Sierra Wildfire Alliance. I am also the Tribal Representative to the Intertribal Agriculture Council and on the Tribal Environmental Protection Act Board. I am also working as a consultant to the Fire Resilience and Education Stewardship Exchange Co-management Agreement between the Valentine Reserve of University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Bishop Paiute Tribe.
Much of my time has been spent with Engine Crews working for the Inyo National Forest. I have learned valuable lessons from a career spent going to wildfires around the country. These experiences have offered me an opportunity to enter into diverse ecosystems, and to understand the social and political influences that have come to shape reactions to large wildland fires. I have both actively worked within and been an observer to the changes that land-managers and wildland firefighters are experiencing.
When not out fighting fires, I spend my time on the Bishop Paiute Indian Reservation. The values that I hold dear are family and tribe, and the ability to seek spirituality on my own terms. I have a sense of our past, our story through the centuries of being in this land and I work towards saving this place for future generations. I have an understanding of our surrounding population, including Tribal and non-Tribal communities and their desire to enjoy this land. We have seen that some wish to possess the land and take the resources for limited use, however I believe that balance is the goal. Native peoples have the knowledge to reengage our natural world with an understanding of the role that fire plays.
The California Fire Science Seminar Series is organized 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. The planning committee includes Michael Gollner (UC Berkeley), Crystal Kolden (UC Merced), Jeanette Cobain (UC Merced), Scott Stephens (UC Berkeley), Autym Shafer (UC Berkeley), and Katanja Waldner (UC Berkeley).
A special thank you to the student committee who assisted with planning this series: Morgan Abbott, Yi Yan, Konstantinos Vogiatzoglou, Sol Alvarez-Taubin, Ajinkya Desai, Kase Wheatley, Minho Kim, Abigail Oswald, Yuerong Xiao, Nic Dutch, Amy Metz, and Helene Le Gall.
