New Mexico has been getting hotter and drier with each passing year. This winter, the state is experiencing record-breaking warm temperatures, which could significantly affect this spring's wildfire season.
At The University of New Mexico, a team of faculty experts are working with state officials and policymakers to help communities across the state become more resilient to wildfires.
The Center for Fire Resilient Ecosystems and Society (FiRES) at UNM is an interdisciplinary center that facilitates research and community outreach to help communities address the negative impacts of fires.
"Our state is highly flammable," said the center's Director Matthew Hurteau. "There are people working to alleviate this, and I wanted to bring them all together to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our discussions and solutions."
Hurteau, a biology professor in the Biology Department at UNM, officially established the center in 2024, but started the connecting and research work much earlier. The center's vision is to strive for a future in which communities and ecosystems throughout New Mexico and the western U.S. are resilient to wildfire.
The FiRES team spans multiple departments and organizations, including biology, economics, communication and journalism, pharmaceutical sciences, computer sciences, internal medicine, geography and environmental studies, the Earth Data Analysis Center, collaborations with Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories and the U.S. Fire Service.
"I wanted the FiRES Center to be a hub that connects all the folks working on fire research, not just at UNM, but beyond the UNM boundaries as well," said Hurteau.
The Center conducts fundamental and applied research to develop next generation fire and vegetation management tools. It also assesses the economic impact of fires, the benefits of fire-resilience management, and the effects of air quality on public health.
Fires are not just ecological problems. They affect the economy, public health, water supplies and communities.
Additionally, the faculty are passionate about working in the community as much as possible to help find sustainable solutions.
"We take the role of a public university very seriously and want to be of service and work with the community as much as we can," Hurteau said.
A good example of this work is when Chris Marsh, a research assistant professor in the biology department, took New Mexico's Legislative Finance Committee on a tour of a burn area to discuss post-fire reforestation and watershed recovery. The tour showed where state investments would be needed after wildfires.
In addition to tours, the faculty participate on legislative panels to help share and understand the impact of wildfires on watersheds, the ecosystems and community resilience.
Right now, the team is partnering with Sandia National Laboratory scientists to help increase the efficiency of wildfire smoke modeling. The current models are slow to run and the collaborative research is working to improve efficiency to make smoke predictions faster. This partnership was made possible thanks to the center's connections and ongoing conversations.
Some additional projects the team is currently working on include landscape-scale risk modeling, fuel moisture monitoring and improving post-fire reforestation methods.
Hurteau's passion for this work stems from firsthand experience after moving to Flagstaff, Ariz., from Vermont. He noted that in his first winter there, 1996, the climate shifted toward hotter, drier conditions, resulting in a severe fire season. The town watched as air tankers constantly circled, evacuations occurred and several homes were lost.
This experience sparked his interest in finding a way to assist communities affected by wildfire. He started by studying forestry, then pursued wildland fire training and certifications, where he learned how land management serves as a tool.
With his firsthand knowledge of wildfires and their negative impact on people's lives, he wanted to bring together a group of people whose work on wildfires from all aspects can create open communication and knowledge-sharing discourse, ultimately creating a think tank of New Mexican experts to address some of the most pressing issues facing the state and communities today.
This work is especially meaningful today and this team of passionate, motivated experts knows it. The work they are doing has a direct impact on the state's future. The FiRES Center will continue to expand partnerships, community engagement, and projects to alleviate the devastation caused by wildfires.
"The effect of these fires on our communities, ecosystems, and watersheds will depend on the choices we make in land management today. So, the center's team is working toward solutions for living in a fire-prone landscape," said Hurteau.
