ECO-FIRE: The Trade-offs between Wildfires and Prescribed Fires

Funding Years: 2026-2028

Wildfires are extreme events that threaten air quality and public health, and their risks are expected to increase under climate change. Prescribed fires are intentionally planned, low-intensity burns used to reduce wildfire risks, but they also produce smoke that can affect nearby communities for longer periods through repeated management activities. The team will build ECO-FIRE as an integrated modeling framework that quantifies the environmental and public health trade-offs of fire management decisions by comparing smoke impacts from wildfires and prescribed fires. This project evaluates how prescribed burning management affects air quality, public health, and environmental equity to inform future policy and ecological management aimed at reducing wildfire risks.

Principal Investigators:

  • Zongrun Li, Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
  • Haihui Zhu, Postdoctoral Fellow, Atmospheric Science
  • John Volckens, Professor, Mechanical Engineering
  • Chad M. Hoffman, Professor, Forest and Rangeland Stewardship
  • Ander Wilson, Associate Professor, Statistics
  • Jeffrey Pierce, Professor, Atmospheric Science