Natural Hazards Research Australia was proud to partner with the International Association of Wildland Fire for the 2022 Fire & Climate conference.
Fire & Climate comprised of two sister conferences, in Pasadena (USA) on 23-27 May and Melbourne on 6-10 June. As a global conference, Fire & Climate discussed to the most important forces shaping wildland fire today to better prepare us to focus and respond to the formidable challenges of the future.
Speakers from around the country, as well as international experts, shared the latest science and practice on the big issues we all face in dealing with bushfires under climate change. Fire & Climate 2022 has plenty of depth and had eight keynote presentations from leaders in the science and operations of fire and climate, plus expert panels on Indigenous and cultural burning in Australia and North America and on fire science communications. This was complemented by almost 100 research and practice presentations from subject matter experts.
Keynote speakers at the Melbourne event included:
- Dr Sophie Lewis, ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment
- Joe Buffone, Director-General, Emergency Management Australia
- Dr Amy Christianson, Parks Canada
- A/Prof Michael-Shawn Fletcher, University of Melbourne
- Dr Amber Soja, National Institute of Aerospace US
- Greg Mullins, the Climate Council
- Dr Sidney Dekker, Griffith University
- Stephen Oliver, Manager Documentaries, ABC
Key topics throughout the week included climate change and fire, extreme bushfire behaviour, cultural land management, fire and the environment, community safety, bushfire risk and bushfires of the future.
Joining the International Association of Wildland Fire and Natural Hazards Research Australia were Fire & Climate sponsors AFAC, the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO and the Melbourne Convention Bureau. Sector partners included Victoria’s Country Fire Authority and Forest Fire Management Victoria, the NSW Rural Fire Service, the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, Minderoo Foundation, Eco Logical Australia, and internationals NASA, the US Forest Service, US Department of Interior Office of Wildland Fire, Association for Fire Ecology and the Pau Costa Foundation.
Find out more about Fire & Climate on the conference website.