UBC experts on wildfires
As the 2026 wildfire season begins, more than 20 fires are burning in B.C. UBC experts are available to comment on wildfires and related topics.
- Disaster preparedness
- Environmental and ecological impacts
- Health
- Wildfire management, climate change
Disaster preparedness
Dr. Amy M. Kim, PhD, PEng
(She/Her/Hers)
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering
Email: amykim@civil.ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- evacuation, specifically transportation issues with evacuation
Dr. Greg Garrard, PhD
(He/Him/His)
Professor, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, UBC Okanagan
Phone: 250-863-2822
Email: greg.garrard@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- wildfire in Canadian culture
- social media effects on wildfire communication and management
- wildlife and crisis communications
- institutional trust during wildfires
- responding to misinformation during wildfires
- factors influencing evacuation behaviour during wildfires
Dr. Kathryn McConnell, PhD, MESc
(She/Her/Hers)
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Sociology
Email: kathryn.mcconnell@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- social impacts of wildfire
- migration and displacement due to wildfire
- urban wildfires
- rebuilding after wildfire
*Unavailable June, July and August
Blair Visscher
Master’s student, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, UBC Okanagan
Email: blairvisscher@gmail.com
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- social media effects on wildfire communication and management
- wildlife and crisis communications
- institutional trust during wildfires
- responding to misinformation during wildfires
- factors influencing evacuation behaviour during wildfires
*Unavailable all June
Dr. Felix Wiesner, MEng, PhD
(He/Him/His)
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Wood Science
phone: 604-822-9852
Email: felix.wiesner@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English, German
*Unavailable May 22-June 5, available in June 6–14 CEST
Expertise:
- fire safety, fire impact on structures
- wildland-urban interface
- fire safety building codes and standards
Environmental and ecological impacts
Dr. Monika Fischer, PhD
(She/Her/Hers)
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Botany, Department of Forest Sciences
Email: monika.fischer@botany.ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- biotic response to fire, especially fungi and other soil microbes
- fungal adaptations to fire
*Unavailable May 5-15, May 25, June 15-17, July 11-19, July 25-31
Dr. Alesandro Ielpi
Assistant Professor, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, UBC Okanagan
Email: alessandro.ielpi@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English, Italian
Expertise:
- watershed processes
- rivers and floodplains
- post-fire flooding
- stream widening and bank erosion
*Unavailable May 18-25, July 4-24, July 30-Aug. 16
Dr. David Scott
Associate Professor, Dept. of Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences
Email: david.scott@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- fire effects on soils and hydrology (fire–flood–erosion sequences)
Health
Dr. Michael Brauer, ScD
Professor, School of Population and Public Health
Email: michael.brauer@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- air quality and health impacts from smoke
- how to minimize exposure to smoke
*Unavailable July 24-Aug. 3 and Aug. 31
Dr. Christopher Carlsten, MD, MPH
Professor and Head, UBC Respiratory Medicine, Respiratory Division, Department of Medicine, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute
phone: 604-875-4122
Email: carlsten@mail.ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- air pollution, environmental health, gene–environment interactions, and public health
- lead investigator of the Lungs on Fire project, studying long-term health effects of wildfire smoke across diverse populations
*Unavailable Aug. 17 – 31
Dr. Sarah Henderson, BASc, PhD
(She/Her/Hers)
Scientific Director, Environmental Health Services, BC Centre for Disease Control
Professor, School of Population and Public Health
Email: sarah.henderson@bccdc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- wildfire smoke, air pollution and extreme heat as environmental health threats
- public health, epidemiology and the health impacts of climate-related exposures
- health impacts of wildfire smoke and extreme heat and ways to protect health
* Unavailable July 1-10
Dr. Emilia Lim
(She/Her/Hers)
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine
Email: emilia.lim@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- molecular biology dysregulation due to air pollution exposure
- lung cancer initiation and prevention (Lung cancer in never smokers)
- bioinformatics and cancer genomics
*Most availability on Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings
Wildfire management, climate change
Dr. Jen Baron
(She/Her/Hers)
Assistant Professor, UBC Okanagan and Member, Centre for Wildfire Coexistence
Email: jen.baron@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- fire ecology
- wildfire management
- prescribed fire
- fire risk, fire behaviour, fuels
- ecosystem restoration
- *Varying availability – please email to ascertain
Patrick Baylis, PhD
(He/Him/His)
Associate Professor, Vancouver School of Economics
Email: patrick.baylis@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- wildfires and housing policy (e.g., land use, building codes, defensible space programs)
- effects of wildfire smoke
Dr. Lori Daniels
Professor, Dept. of Forest and Conservation Sciences and Co-Director, Centre for Wildfire Coexistence
Email: lori.daniels@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English, Spanish
Expertise:
- fire weather, behaviour, impacts,
- fuel mitigation
- eco-cultural restoration using fire
- fire history in B.C.
Dr. Sarah Dickson-Hoyle, PhD
(She/Her/Hers)
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dept. of Forest and Conservation Sciences
Email: sarah.dickson-hoyle@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- fire ecology
- community resilience and risk reduction
- proactive wildfire management
- prescribed burning
- wildfire recovery and ecosystem restoration
*Unavailable May 1-11, June 29-July 31 and Aug. 11-25
Dr. José Martí
Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Email: jrms@ece.ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- real-time computer modelling of wildfire propagation
- AI techniques for strategic wildfire response
- resilience of critical infrastructures during wildfires
Dr. John Thompson
Assistant Professor, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, UBC Okanagan
Email: john.thompson@ubc.ca
Interview languages: English
Expertise:
- statistical fire growth modelling and simulation
- fire image analysis
*Unavailable May 3-8, May 30-June 20, July 12-19 and Aug. 1-11
