The Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory is a joint venture of the USFS PNW Research Station and the School of Forest Resources, University of Washington. At the UW the lab is led by Dr. Ernesto Alvarado, and it consists of nine graduate students, one undergraduate student and a staff of eight scientists, a programmer and field technicians. We study a range of wildland fire topics including fire behavior, combustion science, fire ecology, fire science technology and modeling, fire and forest health, fire-climate interactions, emissions of greenhouse gases, fire policy, and traditional fire use by indigenous communities. Our research includes studies on Tribal and Federal lands in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, and Bolivia and focuses on developing solutions for forest fire and health problems created by policies derived from 100 years of fire suppression, climate conditions, and land use change.
Partnerships include USFS fire science laboratories, Intertribal Timber Council (ITC), National Forests, domestic and international universities and research centers.
Principal Investigator:
Graduate Students:
Pratibha Duwal
Claudia Munoz
Undergraduate Student
Helen Fillmore
Brandon Ambrose (Graduated 2011)