SFE Podcasts
fire podcasts
Friends of Fire Podcasts
Friends of Fire is a podcast produced by the Southern Fire Exchange that reviews a variety of fire science topics relevant to southeastern US ecosystems. Each episode features an interview with a fire practitioner, researcher, or both! We discuss current research, the practicality of implementing research recommendations, best management practices, and future research needs.
Episode 1
Reintroducing Fire into Long Unburned Pine Ecosystems (35:58)
With Shan Cammack (Wildlife Biologist III and Fire Management Officer with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Conservation Section) and Dr. Ajay Sharma (Assistant Professor of Applied Forest Ecology at the West Florida Research and Education Center of the University of Florida).
We discuss what happens when fire is removed from a fire adapted ecosystem, best management practices of reintroducing fire into long unburned pine ecosystems, the challenges and risks of the process, the “duff problem,” and more.
Episode 2
Wild Turkeys and Prescribed Fire – Part 1 (35:20)
With Jay Cantrell (Wildlife Biologist and Assistant Big Game Program Coordinator with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources) and Dr. Michael Chamberlain (Terrell Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia).
This is part 1 of a 2-part discussion on relationship between Eastern Wild Turkeys and prescribed fire. In this episode, we cover population history, recent population declines and the potential causes, how to best manage for wild turkeys, and more.
Episode 3
Wild Turkeys and Prescribed Fire – Part 2 (35:58)
With Jay Cantrell (Wildlife Biologist and Assistant Big Game Program Coordinator with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources) and Dr. Michael Chamberlain (Terrell Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia)
In this episode, we discuss challenges of managing for wild turkeys, public perception of prescribed fire’s effect on turkeys, the effect of growing season / nesting season fires on turkey habitat and survival, potential effects of climate change on the bird, and the benefits and challenges of managers and researchers working together.
Episode 4
Call-When-Needed Fire Crew Model – Part 1 (36:01)
With Adam Warwick (Stewardship Manager with The Nature Conservancy)
This episode is part one of two discussing a call-when-needed fire crew model. Adam is the creator and director of The Nature Conservancy’s Southern Blue Ridge: Call-When-Needed Fire Crew. We discuss the general design of the crew, what makes this crew unique, how to support crew cohesion, and how this type of crew is helping promote acceptance and understanding of prescribed fire.
For more information, check out “So You Want an As Needed Fire Crew?“
Episode 5
Call-When-Needed Fire Crew Model – Part 2 (53:56)
With Adam Warwick (Stewardship Manager with The Nature Conservancy)
This episode continues the discussion on the call-when-needed fire crew model. In this episode, we discuss crew recruiting, costs and funding, partnerships, equipment needs, benefits and challenges, how to overcome challenges, accomplishments, and hopes for the future.
For more information, check out “So You Want an As Needed Fire Crew?“
Episode 6
Developing an effective communication plan that helps drive a successful burn program (58:33)
With Ludie Bond (PIO/Wildfire Mitigation Specialist with the Florida Forest Service)
As fire managers, we have a duty to consider everyone who is going to be impacted by our actions. In this episode, Ludie imparts that “communications is key to being able to have that successful prescribed burn program.” As a trusted messenger to many communities through building relationships and adaptive messaging, Ludie describes key factors to a successful communications plan that benefits the community, your work, and ecosystem restoration as a whole.
Episode 7
Collaborative research burns - the future of fire science (58:33)
With James Furman (Fire Management Specialist with the USDA Forest Service)
Learn all about collaborative research burns with James Furman, a Fire Management Specialist with the USDA Forest Service. James currently serves as Wildland Fire Subject Matter Expert for DoD’s environmental research programs and leads an Integrated Research Management Team (IRMT) to facilitate DoD-funded collaborative prescribed fire research campaigns. In this episode we discuss best practices for co-production of wildland fire science and the collaborative research burns hosted by the IRMT, as well as their benefits and how to prepare for and overcome potential challenges.
Data collected from IRMT-hosted research burns has contributed to tools such as QUIC-Fire, BurnPro3D, and FastFuels. Learn more about these tools, how they are developed and tested, and how they can be used to improve fire management practices from the Next Generation Wildland Fire Planning Tools Workshop:
The recorded presentations are available on our Southern Fire Exchange YouTube channel and include:
- Wildland Fire Modeling Opportunities and Challenges – Rod Linn
- Terrestrial LIDAR Scanning: QUIC-Fire Modeling of New Jersey Wildfire – Nick Skowronski
- FastFuels: 3D Modeling for Next-Generation Fire Management – Russell Parsons
- Using QUIC-Fire to Predict Fire Effects – Joe O-Brien
- WiFIRE Commons and BurnPro3D – Ilkay Altintas
- BurnPro 3D Demonstration – Kevin Hiers
