A group of researchers look up from the forest floor in Victoria.

Forests & fire

About

Forests provide ecosystem services that are critical to humans and the sustainability of our environment. Our research focuses on management of critically important native forests and woodlands, including forest ecology, landscape restoration, wildlife conservation, ecologically sustainable forestry, and the effects of fire and climate.

Projects

Researchers at the Fenner School have been working in the Tumut and nearby Nanangroe regions west of Canberra for 25 year. The work is exploring the impacts on biodiversity of plantation establishment on semi-cleared farmland.

Student intake

Open for Bachelor, Honours, Masters, PhD students

People

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Honorary Senior Lecturer

Photo of Associate Professor Cris Brack

Honorary Associate Professor

Emeritus Professor

Honorary Senior Lecturer

Honorary Senior Lecturer

Academic staff

Senior Lecturer

Photo of Claire Foster

Research Fellow

Photo of Associate Professor Gibbons

Professor

Peter stands and faces the camera in a blue shirt.

Professor

Research Fellow

Student

Articles

More than a dozen years later, and after detailed studies following the 2009 fires and again after the 2019-2020 Black Summer fires, the science shows that logged forests always burn at greater severity than intact forests.

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As coal-fired climate change makes bushfires in Australia worse, governments are ramping up hazard-reduction burning. But our new research shows the practice can actually make forests more flammable.

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Homes overlook a forest in the wildland-urban interface in Arizona. Marius von Essen

In a study published Feb. 7, 2022, a team of climate scientists mapped out where vegetation is creating the highest fire risks across the western U.S. They were surprised to discover that the fastest rate of population growth by far has been in the areas with the highest fire risk.

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As climate change worsens, bushfires are likely to become more intense and frequent. We must find new ways of managing bushfires to prevent catastrophic events - satellite data can help in this task.

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Image of Bushfire smoke in Lyneham, Canberra

Only one in five people sought medical attention but half reported anxiety, depression and sleep loss.

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Graphic showing a map to explain how the national scorecard will operate

For the first time, the public will be able to track the health of those two key conservation areas as part of a $10 million program to boost science and park management.

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