Modelling forest vulnerability to wildfire in British Columbia.

NERC : Catherine Mercer: NE/S007431/1

The severity of future wildfires is expected to increase due to climate change, with societal and ecological consequences. My project aims to understand the drivers of the Sparks Lake fire that burned 95,980 hectares to the north of Kamloops (British Columbia, Canada) in 2021. First, I will quantify burn severity of the Sparks Lake fire using satellite imagery and field observations.

I will then use statistical modelling approaches to determine the effect that vegetation type, weather and topography had in driving the fires burn severity. The results will contribute to knowledge that will allow for better informed management decisions of forests that are likely to be vulnerable to severe fire in future and will be published in a scientific journal.

Field and computational skills I gain from the placement will be applied to my PhD and the networking opportunities it provides will be essential to my future academic career.