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This talk will explore themes of slack and scarcity and how they relate to efficiency and risk in wildfire. The presenter will discuss slack and scarcity in the context of incident response and then scale up to the interagency system that prioritizes and allocates resources across incidents. Emphasis will be on how enhanced prioritization, logistics, operations, and proven fire analytics can support synergistic efficiency at fire incident and system scales.



Bio: Dr. Matthew P Thompson is a Research Forester with the Wildfire Risk Management Science Team at the Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service. In 2016 he was a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. His research interests include: wildland fire management; risk, systems, and decision analysis; data science and analytics; operations research; management science; forest management; and coupled human and natural systems. He has a BS in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia, a MS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of California, Berkeley, a MS in Forest Management from Oregon State University, a PhD in Forest Engineering from Oregon State University, a professional certificate in Strategic Decision and Risk Management from Stanford University, and is currently enrolled in the Senior Executive Fellows program through the Harvard Kennedy School.

This event is part of a series:

Fire Lab Seminar Series

The Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory has been hosting an annual seminar series since 1998. Hour-long seminars are presented by Fire Lab employees and other researchers from throughout the world. Seminars cover current research and management about the natural world from a broad range of disciplines, but most seminars usually have a wildland fire theme. The Fire Lab Seminar Series provides a platform for researchers and managers to present their work in an environment that encourages critical thought, the free exchange of ideas, and knowledge discovery. For more information, visit the Fire Lab Seminar Series page.

Event Details

Mar 23 2023, 11am - 12pm
Virtual Event
Presenter(s): Matthew P. Thompson

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