(Erica Fischer | Photo courtesy of Oregon State University)
How communities in the western United States can adapt to wildfire hazards at a time when the climate is growing hotter and drier will be the topic of the November 9 Oregon State University – Cascades Science Pub.
The virtual event, a joint effort of Oregon State University in Corvallis and OSU-Cascades in Bend, will feature a talk by Erica Fischer, an assistant professor in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering in the OSU College of Engineering.
In recent months, fires have devastated communities throughout the western United States. In her talk, Fires in the West: How to Build Fire Adaptive Communities for the Future, Fischer will discuss actions communities can take to mitigate wildfire hazards, particularly as the climate grows hotter and drier.
Research has shown the wildland urban interface is the fastest-growing land use in the contiguous U.S. However, infrastructure such as power lines and water lines is not designed to withstand wildfires in the wildland urban interface. Fischer studies fire in the wildland urban interface as a way to improve the resilience of infrastructure.
The Science Pub will run from 6-7:30pm and can be viewed for free. The event will be broadcast on YouTube Live. Registration is required and can be completed at beav.es/oRJ.
Sponsors of the Science Pub include the OSU Office of Research, OSU-Cascades in Bend and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Connect Central Oregon, a collaborative program with the OSU-Cascades Innovation Co-Lab, will produce the event with its student interns.
