First session is a hot topic as Dr. Laura Chasmer discusses the growing impact of wildfire
Like many places worldwide, Canada is experiencing increasing impacts from wildfires. Our summers are becoming smokier, fire seasons are getting longer, and fires are becoming more severe and complex, putting communities at risk. When fires impact communities, important questions are asked: Why are wildfires changing? How are they changing? What can we do to protect communities from fire?
On Thursday, September 29, University of Lethbridge geography and environment professor Dr. Laura Chasmer will present Living with the changing flammability of forests. This is the first of seven talks planned for the 2022/23 season. The free event runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge and is open to the public.
In this presentation, Chasmer will briefly introduce fire behaviour before exploring how significant changes in forests make fires less predictable and how forests recover from fire. Finally, Chasmer will look at some innovations under development at the University of Lethbridge to help fire managers better understand and control fires.
Laura Chasmer is an associate professor in the Department of Geography & Environment at the University of Lethbridge. She has spent more than 20 years measuring changing forest, permafrost, and peatland ecosystems using innovative geospatial technologies (like satellites and lasers) and field measurements across Western Canada. In 2015, Chasmer received the Canadian Remote Sensing Society award for outstanding early career achievements and this past January was featured on CBC’s The Nature of Things documentary. She is currently a lead investigator with NSERC Canada Wildfire, is a contributing author to the United Nations Global Peatlands Assessment and has published 70 journal articles.
Learn more, visit: ulethbridge.ca/artsci/pps-chasmer
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Contact:
Dr. Laura Chasmer, Department of Geography & Environment
403-332-4661
Catharine Reader, Office of the Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science
403-382-7154
