November 13, 2021 • 1–2:30 p.m.
Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Research Associate Professor in the Environment and Society Program, Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS)
Watch Recorded Lecture
As climate exacerbated wildfire poses an increasing threat to society, what information do we need to reduce risk of catastrophic fire? In this era of large wildfires, the devastation of homes and communities is an increasingly common story. Research and experience suggest residents in fire-prone communities can effectively prepare for wildfires and reduce the odds of losing their homes. However, moving residents to action is a big challenge. In this CU on the Weekend talk, Dr. Hannah Brenkert-Smith will discuss the role of social science and how local data can improve engagement with residents living in fire-prone communities. She will describe a unique team of researchers and wildfire practitioners working together to develop effective evidence-based wildfire education programs.
About the presenter
Hannah Brenkert-Smith is a research associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Institute of Behavioral Science. Her research examines social-environmental interactions in the face of environmental change, particularly in the American West. Over the past 20 years, her work has focused primarily on household and community response to wildfire risk. In recent years, her work has prioritized collaborative research practices that yield actionable data and insights for those working at the forefront of wildfire risk mitigation in the wildland-urban interface. She earned her PhD in sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She was an Environmental Protection Agency Science to Achieve Results (STAR) fellow, a science and technology policy fellow at the National Academy of Sciences, and a postdoctoral fellow in the Climate Science and Applications Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. For more information, visit Brenkert-Smith’s website.