Fire Ecology Chats

In this episode, Alex and Jeff discuss the implications and effects of the proposed recession of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation rule for fire ecologists, managers, and communities. What impact would this have on the WUI, wildlife corridors, and fire risk? Tune in to see what the experts have to say. Is there a topic related to management or policy you’d like discuss with Jeff on Fire Ecology...

Welcome to Season 2 of Fire Ecology Chats, with our new host Fire Ecology editor Jeff Kane! In this episode, Bob and Jeff take a walk down memory lane, give us a peek under the hood at what it's like to be Editor-in-Chief at Fire Ecology, and share the key to success for graduates and early-career scientists. Interested in Fire Ecology, an open-access journal? Want to read some about some top scie...

In Bob's FINAL episode of Fire Ecology Chats, former Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Jennifer Fill about how savanna perennial grasses are like people! Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00495-3

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Sara Negri about how large wildfires impact the soil in the European Alps. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00493-5

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Claire Rapp and Melanie Colavito about how practitioners on the ground can better use wildfire management support tools. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00484-6

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Peter Breigenzer and Jay Wason about using terrestrial lidar (TLS) to better understand how forest cover influences understory temperature, relative humidity, and dead fuel moisture in mesic forests in the north-east US. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00480-w

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Kaili Brande about how bark can provide protection from fire in Californian oaks. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00488-2

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Kyle Merriam about how fire suppression effects species like Baker Cypress. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00489-1

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Carolina Gallo and Jonathan Eden about how climate change is reshaping fire weather across the mediterranean biome, and how we can adapt. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00477-5

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Rochelle Worsnop, Ben Hatchett, and Karen Short about helping burn practitioners by better anticipating windows of opportunity for pile and broadcast burning in Northern California. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00492-6

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with William Flatley and Theo Witsell about using fire-scarred shortleaf pines and tree cores to characterize and link together fire history and history of invasion in the Ozark Plateau. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00458-8

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Claire Tortorelli and Alison Dean about how invasive grasses change the spread of fire across the landscape and how to manage it. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00468-6

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Kristen Shive, Linnea Hardlund, and Brianna Baker about how managers can move forward in handling the loss that giant sequoias have suffered. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00469-5

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Korina Ocampo-Zuleta, Carolina Quintero, and Melisa Blackhall about lichen ignitions and climate change implications. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00456-w

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Jeff Chandler and Solomon Dobrowski about capturing the full spread of fire attributes from the past and comparing it to present-day wildfires. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00447-x

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Sarah Dickson-Hoyle, Carolyn Szostak, and Nelly Oelke about what we can do to support researchers and students entering into the challenging space of wildland fire research. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-025-00434-8

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Azaj Mahmud and Dylan Schwilk about predicting key aspects of shoot flammability and how that relates to flammability category rankings in the National Fire Protection Association’s Firewise program. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00460-0

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Joe Birch, Jessica Miesel, and Matthew Dickinson about cheatgrass abundance in response to overstory death and prescribed fire. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-025-00445-5

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Olga Wepryk and Igor Drobyshev about using aerial lidar to assess ground fuels for surface fires. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00454-y

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Craig Harper, Mark Turner, and Jake Bones about comparing vegetation and wildlife effects of burning during all times of the year in the southeastern US. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-025-00439-3

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Alissa Cordner about underrepresented hazards in wildland firefighting like forever chemicals, minefields, and rainbow meat. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00449-9

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Greg Aplet about investigating the relationship of ignition density to distance from roads. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-026-00450-2

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Nuria Sánchez-López and Melanie Taylor about understanding how litter and duff accumulate on the forest floor in pine flatwoods of the southeastern United States. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-025-00425-9

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Arik Joukhajian and Sydney Glassman about using molecular sequencing to identify the soil bacteria and the soil fungi from microbial communities in the Mojave Desert. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-025-00435-7

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Alyssa Worsham and Jonathan Coop about how the right kind of fire can shrink the gap between existing and ideal conditions in U.S. wilderness areas. Full journal article can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-025-00414-y