In 2016 the International Association of Wildland Fire will experience some transition in the Executive Committee, as well as adding five new members to the Board of Directors.
First, we have five outgoing Board of Directors: Alan Goodwin, Kris Johnson, Dave Moore, Ron Steffens and Richard Thornton. We wish you the very best and sincerely thank you for their excellent service to the IAWF through the years.
The new IAWF Vice President is Alen Slijepcevic. Alen is the Deputy Chief Officer Capability and Infrastructure at the Country Fire Authority in Australia and has been on the board since 2014. The new IAWF Treasurer is Albert Simeoni. Albert is a Senior Manager at Exponent and has been on the board since 2014.
We welcome five new Board Members in 2016.
David Bruce, Communications Manager, Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia
David Bruce is Communications Manager for the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre. Prior to that he held the same position at the Bushfire CRC in Australia.
David oversaw the development and implementation of the branding and communications in the start-up phase of the BNHCRC and leads a small team managing publications, online media, stakeholder relations, media relations and events. He is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Wildfire magazine, produced by the International Association of Wildland Fire, and is a member of the Public Relations Institute of Australia.
His working life began as a journalist and news editor with Melbourne’s daily broadsheet The Age and News Limited’s community newspapers, and later as the Communications and Media Manager at Monash and Deakin universities.
Murray Carter, Director Office of Bushfire Risk Management (OBRM), Western Australia
Mr. Carter has held the position of Director OBRM for the past 18 months. OBRM is an independent Office responsible to the Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner, WA. The role of OBRM is to enhance the efficient and effective management of bushfire related risk in WA in order to protect people, assets and other things valuable to community. It’s functions include, among others, the regulation of prescribed burning and the application of a risk management framework to the use of planned fire.
Prior to the OBRM appointment, Mr. Carter was the Manager, Fire Management Services Branch (Chief Fire Officer) for the Department of Parks and Wildlife WA. During his time in this role he led the reform of the Departments prescribed fire program into alignment with the International Standard for Risk Management, AS/NZS ISO 31000; 2009 Risk Management Principles and Guidelines. Mr. Carter is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Director training and has twenty eight years of operational bushfire and emergency management experience with a strong focus on prescribed burning.
Mr. Carter is currently the Chairperson of the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Rural and Land Management Group.
Euan Ferguson AFSM, retired Chief Officer, Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA), Victoria, Australia
Euan Ferguson is a forester and fire emergency manager with 39 years experience in fire and fuels risk management, community engagement and emergency management leadership. In 2015 Euan retired after 5 years as Chief Officer with the Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA). Previously, Euan held the role of Chief Officer and CEO of the South Australian Country Fire Service for 9 years. Prior to that, Euan held a range of field fire and forestry roles with CFA and with the public land management authority in Victoria.
In the 1980’s, Euan was a member of the Army Reserve, was commissioned in 1985, and served with 91 Forestry Squadron. Euan has held a number of key appointments including past Chair and inaugural member of the Board of the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC); past Chair and member of the Board of the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council (AFAC). Euan is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF). Euan is an advocate for firefighter safety through better decision making and promotes the philosophy of intent based leadership.
Michael Gollner, Department of Fire Protection Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
Dr. Michael Gollner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is broadly interested in fire science problems, utilizing experiments and theory to solve problems related to fire spread in the wildland and built environments, sustainable/green building fire safety and smoke and toxic product transport. In 2014 he started the first engineering-based wildland fire course at the University of Maryland, focusing on both the science and applications of engineering to wildland fire. He serves as Associate Editor of Fire Technology, on the editorial board of the Fire Safety Journal, a member of the NFPA Technical Committee on Wildland and Rural Fire Protection, a member of the NFPA FPRF Research Advisory Board and an elected member of the management committee of the International Association for Fire Safety Science.
Michael is from Southern California, where he was first acquainted with wildfires. He holds a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego. summary of current research topics and other activities is available on his website: http://www.gollnerfire.com/
Toddi A. Steelman, Ph.D., Executive Director and Professor, School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Dr. Toddi Steelman’s broad research agenda focuses on improving the governance of environmental and natural resources, emphasizing the role of the public and community in science, policy, and decision-making interactions. She has a 15-year history working on the human dimensions of wildfire research and has conducted research on community aspects of wildfire management in Canada and the United states, including the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, California, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho.
Her research agenda has focused on understanding community responses to wildfire and how communities and agencies interact for more effective wildfire management. Steelman is also Co-director, with Dr. Branda Nowell, of the Fire Chasers project at North Carolina State University (www.firechasers.ncsu.edu), which focuses on advancing the science of adaptive capacity toward more disaster resilient communities.
