A panel of experts will gather Aug. 29 at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder for a free public discussion of the causes and effects of wildfire and how technology could lead to better fire management.
"Fires in the West: What Should We Do?" will take place in the University Memorial Center, room 235, at 7:30 p.m. Free parking will be available in the Euclid Avenue Autopark and light refreshments will follow the presentation.
The symposium is intended to inform the community, including new students or residents who may not be familiar with these issues, on how wildfires are influenced by human activities and climatic variations. The geographic and sociologic effects of wildfires will be illustrated.
"I strongly encourage people who are not familiar with or are alarmed by the wildfire risk to come to these talks by campus experts," said Jerry Peterson, associate vice chancellor for research at the CU-Boulder Graduate School.
Other symposium topics include how information and technology can be shared to support firefighters in the field, and the coordination of federal agencies to allow management of fire suppression resources.
Geography Professor Thomas Veblen, climate research scientist Klaus Wolter, geography Associate Professor William Travis and aerospace engineering Professor William Emery will offer their perspectives in 20-minute presentations.
The panel moderator will be Jana Milford, director of the university's environmental engineering program and member of the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission, which oversees state regulations for air quality. Carol Lynch, vice chancellor for research and dean of the Graduate School, will provide a welcome message.
Veblen, who studies forest disturbance ecology and the relationship of human activity and climate factors, will talk about fire history in Colorado. Wolter will follow with a look at the fire risk of living in the foothills. Wolter is a noted climate scientist and forecaster with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Travis will examine the prospects for natural resource management and western land policy change. Finally, technology's role in fire suppression will be discussed by Emery, a remote sensing expert who interprets satellite data for terrestrial, meteorological and oceanographic research.
The floor will be opened for a question-and-answer session following the final panelist presentation.
"There's no better place for new residents to be than at this symposium, so that they can become familiar with Colorado's major natural hazard," said Dennis Mileti, director of CU-Boulder's Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center.
The event is the seventh annual CU-Boulder Graduate School symposium, traditionally held on the first Thursday of the new fall semester. For more information call (303) 492-2889 or visit and click on the "coming events" link.