REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION

• Must be an “individual” member of the IAWF. Student and Corporate members are not eligible.
• The IAWF Board of Directors is a working Board. We are seeking individuals who are interested in serving the membership and will contribute the time, energy and expertise to serve on committees, participate in monthly conference calls lasting up to 2 hours and generally assist in furthering the mission of the Association.
• Must have the time available for the above.
• Since most of the Board’s activities are conducted electronically, the applicants will need to be very comfortable using email, using Microsoft Word, as well as opening and filing attachments to email.
• Attending an annual face-to-face Board of Directors meeting is very helpful, but not an absolute requirement. The annual board meeting, if held, is usually held at one of our conferences and requires about 8 hours of discussion and review.

By October 20, 2008, submit an application to the chair of the nominating committee. The Board of Directors will hold their election for the expiring positions during the week of November 19.

Email: nominations@iawfonline.org

Anyone interested in applying for one of the positions or nominating someone may email and request an application.

December 9-11, 2008
Reno, Nevada
Grand Sierra Resort and Casino

Details regarding the American Deserts program can be found at:
http://rangelands.org/deserts/index.shtml

Specific details about registration can be found at:
http://rangelands.org/deserts/American_Deserts_Registration.shtml

This is the first conference to focus its attention on the aerial fire fighting fixed and rotary-winged technologies and operations and is a truly international event with representatives from more than 30 countries attending. Operators from Australia, South Africa, Russia, Italy, France, Korea, Spain, Greece, Croatia, and, of course, Canada and the USA will be talking about their operational experiences. Ministries of Interior, Agriculture and Forestry as well as ground fire brigades will be joining the meeting. A major fixed and rotary-winged aerial fire fighting demonstration will be laid on at Elefsis Air Force Base, just outside Athens, by the Hellenic Air Force and other international operators for the benefit of the visitors to the show.

A major Panel Session will be taking place on a European initiative to develop a Cross-Border Rapid Reaction Aerial Firefighting Squadron to assist with Pan-European wildfires. Mr Christopher Allen from the European Union’s Environment General Directorate Civil Protection Unit will host this international debate. There will also be another Panel Session covering Air Pollution from Wildfires hosted by Professor Milt Statheropolous, Council of Europe - European Center for Forest Fires (ECFF).

We hope that you will be able to join us in Athens and ask those interested parties to register here.

HERE is a downloadable flyer about the conference (274k pdf)

Kara Yedinak, a PhD. Student at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, received one of the scholarships. Kara has worked for the last four years on laboratory experiments and model development which look at answering some of the fundamental questions in fire behavior science. Her PhD. research will involve evaluation and application of a coupled atmosphere-fire model to better understand the role of fire with regards to air quality.

Cathelijne R. Stoof, a PhD. student at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, received the other scholarship. Cathelijne has been working on soils and hydrology combining field, lab and modeling approaches in the Netherlands and abroad. In her PhD research she uses a multiscale approach to explain post-fire erosion and flooding events by studying the effects of fire on soil water movement.

More information is available on our scholarships page on our web site, including photos, previous scholarship winners, and information about the 2009 program.

If you would like to be a part of the Safety Summit Committee, or have ideas for topics that should be included, please let us know! Contact Chair Dick Mangan at 406-543-0013 or email: blackbull (at) bigsky.net.