The Wildfire Science & Technology Commons is excited to announce its first four dedicated working groups. Each working group is focused on a unique aspect of planning for collaboration opportunities and the FireForge community platform, which will enable open data, cutting-edge science, AI, and shared knowledge to create wildfire management solutions and community connections.
Working group members were nominated to participate by the Wildfire Commons community, and we are pleased to have selected the inaugural members of our working groups: the Community Marketplace Working Group, Scale and Sustain Working Group, Standards Working Group, and Opportunity Assessment Working Group.
Community Marketplace Working Group
The Community Marketplace Working Group will provide clear, standardized indicators of the quality, relevance, and impact of shared resources, promoting recognition and trust across the community. It will establish recognition criteria and badges for community members to encourage best practices, collaboration, and visibility of important wildfire-related contributions.
Community Marketplace Working Group Members:
- Christopher Jones, Conversa Corps, Inc.
- Himanshukumar Varia, California State University of Sacramento
- Nick Maggio, University of Oregon, Oregon Hazards Lab
- Kevin Sofen, International Association of Fire Chiefs
Scale and Sustain Working Group
The Scale and Sustain Working Group will 1) identify ways in which the Wildfire Science & Technology Commons can scale partnerships to include new collaborations with existing communities and networks; 2) assess opportunities and innovations for additional growth in the FireForge platform expansion; and 3) explore innovations that can sustain the Wildfire Science & Technology Commons to ensure ongoing use and impact within the community and beyond.
Scale and Sustain Working Group Members:
- Ilkay Altintas, UC San Diego
- Ertugrul Taciroglu, UCLA
- Sarah Caldwell, Climate & Wildfire Institute
- Rahul Wadhwani, USDA
- Israel Orimoloye, Western Michigan University
- David Saah, USF/SIG
- Seth Schalet, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council
- Doug Toomey, University of Oregon
Standards Working Group
The purpose of the Standards Working Group is to 1) define and implement comprehensive tagging standards for data, models, workflows, and community networks within the Wildfire Commons; 2) ensure that the standards reflect the needs of diverse stakeholders, including researchers, fire managers, policymakers, and technology developers; 3) facilitate seamless discovery and integration of resources within the Commons through standardized metadata and tags; and 4) maintain and update the standards as new resources, technologies, and community needs emerge.
Standards Working Group Members:
- Danielle Christianson, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Nicholas LaHaye, JPL/SIG
- Ilkay Altintas, UC San Diego
Opportunity Assessment Working Group
The Opportunity Assessment Working Group will 1) organize priority areas where open science and technology can contribute to wildfire management solutions; 2) identify data, science, and innovation gaps in these priority areas; 3) evaluate the current state of possibilities through science and technology advancements of the Wildfire Commons; and 4) create actionable blueprints to explore innovations for the fire science, management, and technology communities as Wildfire Commons pathfinder projects.
Opportunity Assessment Working Group Members:
- Mark Brown, Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority
- Mikhail Teverovskiy
- Josh Wilkins, Fireline Solutions
- Ken Kempter, Cal OES
- James Zollweg, SUNY Brockport
- Ertugrul Taciroglu, UCLA
- Matthew Thompson, Pyrologix LLC
- Kevin Vogler, Filsinger Energy Partners
- Bryce Young, Vibrant Planet
Each working group within the Wildfire Science & Technology Commons contributes specialized skills and insights, ensuring a comprehensive approach to wildfire management challenges. We are excited to start 2025 with these working groups and look forward to their contributions to the future of the Wildfire Science & Technology Commons.
