Supported and planned by the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network (FAC Net) and the Western Region of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council. Moderated by Ali Lerch.

Panelists: 1) Chris Chambers has worked at Ashland Fire and Rescue since 2002. A graduate of the Oregon State University College of Forestry, Chris worked for the US Forest Service and BLM for 5 seasons in silviculture, fire, botany, and wildlife and fisheries biology. For Ashland Fire & Rescue, Chris coordinated National Fire Plan grants for 6 years with hundreds of private landowners, co-authored the 2004 Ashland Community Wildfire Protection Plan and 2005 Jackson County Integrated Fire Plan and participated in the genesis and ongoing implementation of the Ashland Forest Resiliency Stewardship Project. Chris started Ashland’s Firewise Communities and Fire Adapted Communities programs and also coordinates management of Ashland’s municipal forestlands, including the City’s prescribed burning program. Chris has worked nationally with the International Association of Fire Chiefs, serves on the board of the Southern Oregon Forest Restoration Collaborative, and on the Governor’s Wildfire Response Council here in Oregon.

2) Katie Stewart is an air quality specialist with 18 years’ experience at EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region, which oversees environmental protection in CA, AZ, NV, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, and in partnership with the 148 tribes in the region. In her work with the US EPA, Katie focuses on wildland fire smoke, residential wood and coal smoke, indoor air quality, asthma, and critical incident stress management. Katie participates in the region’s internal wildland fire smoke team and co-leads the CA Smoke Communications workgroup along with partners at the federal, state, and local level. Katie is an Air Resource Advisor with the USFS Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program. Katie’s work focuses on ways to reduce risk from smoke exposure, including research and communication tools. Katie has a bachelor of science in environmental toxicology from the University of CA, Davis and a master of public health in disaster management from Tulane University.

3) Kara Karboski is the Fire, Landscapes, and Communities Coordinator at the Washington RC&D and has been the Coordinator of the Washington Prescribed Fire Council since 2014. In her role, Kara supports projects and partnerships that advance the use of prescribed fire across the state and that build community support and ownership to use good fire.

4) Peter Lahm, is the Air Resource Specialist for the USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry, Fire and Aviation Management, in Washington, DC. He leads the Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program which provides personnel, technical specialists called Air Resource Advisors, smoke modeling and monitoring capabilities to develop forecasts for areas adversely affected by smoke. Starting in 2004, Pete has led the Forest Service’s national smoke management efforts developing technical approaches and policies related to smoke impacts from prescribed fire and wildfires. Since 2006 he has chaired the National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s Smoke Committee.