Reflections from Participants

As an educator currently writing curriculum for a semester of fire ecology, as well as having been a former wildland firefighter, the Colorado Wildland Fire Ecology Institute was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.  The experience was well worth its time.  The organizers of this event did a superb job at integrating wildland fire science and fire ecology with hands-on learning opportunities, guest speakers, field trips, educational resources, and activities for the classroom.  The live fire activities will, no doubt, bring even the most uninterested students to full attention.  The classroom educational resources I find to be extremely useful additions to the curriculum I am currently writing and I think they are going to be a lot of fun for the students.  The field activities, although predominantly focused on the Missionary Ridge Fire, I feel will be very easy to tailor to any region or ecosystem.

I appreciated that all of the guest speakers were experts in their fields yet were still able to convey relevant messages to individuals both versed and unversed in wildland fire terminology and science.  The firefighter guest speakers did a very good job of making sense of the tactical components of wildland fire suppression and mitigation, which was nicely paired with scientific aspects discussed by professors and scientists alike.  The historical fire examination provided by dendrochronology was a nice touch and an aspect of the Institute that I hope is maintained in coming years.  With my undergraduate degree in geography, I also especially enjoyed the Sim-Table demonstration and cartographic components as well.

The accommodations in the dorm rooms were as expected.  I was grateful for the free room and meals, which was a significant draw for me to attend, considering that I work for a non-profit organization and may not have been able to attend if these were additional costs that would have been needed otherwise. 

The days were long and full of good material.  I fully understand the need for the long days with the amount of excellent material covered, although I must admit that the hours were reminiscent of days spent on the fire line.  Speaking of which, I think that it was a good idea to have the students of the Fire Ecology Institute spend some time chopping fire line, as I think it gave the participants a small taste of the work wildland firefighters do on a daily basis. 

I would highly recommend this program for traditional and non-traditional educators who are hoping to teach about the often misunderstood science of wildland fire ecology.