With wildfire season beginning in Canada, Western University has the following experts available to discuss the various impacts of wildfires.
Ecological impacts of wildfires
Robert Buchkowski
Assistant Professor, Biology
- Cumulative effects of fire on ecosystems
- Global change biology
- Ecosystem modelling
- Conservation biology
- Forest management
Nicole Redvers
Associate Professor, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western Research Chair and Director of Indigenous Planetary Health
- Indigenous health
- Planetary health
- Impact of forest fires
- Climate change in Indigenous communities
Douglas Woolford
Professor, Statistical and Actuarial Sciences
- Forest and wildland fire science
- Forest and wildland fire management
- Fire occurrence prediction
- Risk assessment
- Risk modelling
Health effects of wildfire smoke
Dr. Anurag Bhalla
Assistant Professor, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
- Effect of wildfire smoke on asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis, airway infections
Dr. Jorge Burneo
Professor, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry; Jack Cowin Epilepsy Research Chair
- Health effects of air pollution
- Wildfires and neurological health
- Neuro-epidemiology
Dr. Anna Gunz
Associate Professor, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
- Health effects of wildfire smoke
- Health monitoring of climate change
- Climate change as a health crisis
Climate change and wildfires
Katrina Eyvindson
Associate Professor and Chair, Geography & Environment
- Climate change education
- Climate change and wildfires
- Climate change and water resources
- Drought
- Environmental change in alpine and arctic regions
Alan MacEachern
Professor, History
- Lessons from the history of wildfires in Canada
- Environmental and climate history
Gordon McBean
Professor Emeritus, Geography and Environment
- Climate change and wildfires
- Climate change science and policy
- Natural hazards-prediction and mitigation
- Weather and environmental prediction systems
Evan Bowness
Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Sustainability and Equity
- Climate adaptation
- Community food systems
- Environmental justice
Wildfire response and mitigation
Laura Chasmer
Associate Professor, Geography and Environment
- Fire fuels
- Post-fire recovery of ecosystems
- Community response
Paul Kovacs
Executive Director, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
- Wildfire-resilient construction
- Disaster safety and economic policy
- Disaster resilience and adaptation
Glenn McGillivray
Managing Director, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
- Wildfire mitigation
- Property insurance and risk
- Climate change adaptation
- Disaster resilience
Reza Najafi
Associate Professor, Engineering
- Hydroclimatic extremes and climate change
- Drought
- Heatwaves
- Compound extreme events that can influence wildfire risk and conditions
Maged Youseff
Professor, Engineering
- Structural fire engineering
- Sustainable structures and extreme events
- Effects of wildfires on structures
- Fire resiliency
MEDIA CONTACT:
Sawyer Leeson, Media Relations Coordinator, Western University, (519) 280-3717, sleeson4@uwo.ca
