International Association of Wildland Fire Awards

Reopening Nominations for Safety Award and Early Career in Fire Operations Award

We wanted to let you know that we didn’t receive any nominations for the Wildland Fire Safety Award or the Early Career in Fire Operations Award. We’re a bit bummed, but we know there are so many amazing people out there who deserve recognition. If you have someone in mind, please take a moment to nominate them for these awards. The deadline for nominations is March 15th, so don’t wait too long! We can’t wait to see who you’ll choose to honor. Thank you for your support!

The IAWF is committed to building a diverse and inclusive association, and group of award recipients. We encourage nominations that enhance and give visibility to the diversity of the wildfire community.

To nominate, please complete the online form (links below), and compose a letter (no more than 800 words) explaining how the nominee embodies the award’s purpose, and a list of three or more individuals (with contact information) who confirm the nominee’s contributions.

When submitting your nomination, please assume we don’t know the nominee, include specifics about why they are deserving in your nomination letter.

If you are writing an award nomination, and would like a little help, members of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity (DEI)  Committee are willing to help. Perhaps English is not your first language or you can’t quite find the right words to express your thoughts, just reach out and we would be happy to help. EMail.

Click on the links below to nominate for the awards:

Wildland Fire Safety Award

Early Career Award in Fire Operations

 

We encourage you to  gather your information to nominate some very deserving folks for these prestigious awards! The recipient does not need to be an IAWF member to receive an award.

If you’ve nominated someone in the past and they were not selected as the recipient, please do not hesitate to re-nominate them. At times we have numerous deserving folks, however, at this time we are only able to select one person per award.

Contact us with questions: Email or 406-625-7059.

Wildland Fire Safety Award

The Wildland Fire Safety Award is given to someone in the wildland fire community who has made a significant contribution to wildland firefighter safety, either directly on the fireline, or indirectly through management or cultural changes. Their contribution is frequently beyond their normal everyday job expectations – sometimes at the potential risk to their own career, and their example can encourage others to act in a similar manner. Nominations open annually on September 23rd.

 

Ember Award for Excellence in Wildland Fire Science

The purpose of the IAWF EMBER AWARD is to acknowledge sustained achievement in wildland fire science. The name ‘Ember’ was chosen to reflect the fact that research and science often move slowly, and their benefits or impacts may not be apparent for years or more. Nominations open annually on September 23rd.

 

Distinguished Service Award

The International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) is pleased to announce the establishment of the Distinguished Service Award which recognizes individuals, groups or organizations for their outstanding contributions to furthering the goals of the Association.

Distinguished Service Award Past Recipients

Spark Award

Student award for best poster or oral presentation at every IAWF hosted conference. Partner conferences may request to give this award as well.

At the ISS2 we had some stellar student presentations included on the program schedule.   We had a wonderful group of professionals volunteer to attend each of the presentations, evaluate and compile their results.

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Spark Award: Best Student Presentation!

First Place: Joshua Horsley, University of Sydney, Australia
Forecasting fire smoke exposure and health impacts in Australia
Click here to view Power Point Presentation

Second Place: Scott Kelleher, Colorado State University
Low-cost wildfire smoke monitoring and detection
 Click here to view Power Point Presentation 

Third Place: Steven Brey, Colorado State University
There’s the smoke, where’s the fire? A regional analysis of which fires impact U.S. air quality based on a decade of HMS smoke data
Click here to view Power Point Presentation

Congratulations to each of these students. They will be awarded with an IAWF membership, as well as a cash prize.

Firebreak Award for Excellence in Wildland Fire Management

The “Management Award” was established to honor achievements and excellence in the management of wildland fire programs. This award recognizes an individual who have made lasting contributions in program management and inspired others through their creativity, innovation, leadership, application, guidance, and communication in response to challenging and controversial wildland fire management issues. Nominations open annually on September 23rd.

Early Career Award in Fire Science

The Early Career Award in Fire Science is to recognize a promising early-career professional who has demonstrated outstanding ability in any field of wildland fire science. Early career is nominally taken to include professionals who are under 40 years of age when nominated. Nominations open annually on September 23rd.

 

Early Career Award in Fire Operations

The Early Career Award in Fire Operations is to recognize a promising early-career professional who has demonstrated outstanding ability in any field of wildland fire operations. Early career is nominally taken to include professionals who are under 40 years of age when nominated. Nominations open annually on September 23rd.

 

2023 Award Recipients

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Dr. David Calkin
2023 Ember Award
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Dr. José Antonio Vega
2023 Ember Award
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Jan Kaczmarowski
2023 Firebreak Award
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Dr. Michael Gollner
2023 Early Career Award in Fire Science
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Fábio da Silva
2023 Early Career Award in Fire Operations
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2022 Award Recipients

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Prof. Domingos Viegas
2022 Ember Award
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Scott Jones
Safety Award
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Brian Schaffler
Firebreak Award
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Dr. Adrian Cardil Forradellas
Early Career Award in Fire Science
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2021 Award Recipients

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Dr. Penny Morgan
Ember Award
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Dr. Susan Conard
Distinguished Service Award
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Arthur "Butch" Blazer
Firebreak Award
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Dr. Bret Butler
Wildland Fire Safety Award
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Dr. Cathelijne Stoof
Early Career in Fire Science Award
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Dr. Sayaka Suzuki
Early Career in Fire Science Award
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2020 Award Recipients

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Tom Zimmerman.
Distinguished Service Award
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Dr. David L. Martell
Ember Award
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Tim Sexton
Firebreak Award
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Neil Cooper
Firebreak Award
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Dr. Alexander Filkov
Early Career in Fire Science
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Nolan Buckingham
Early Career in Fire Operations
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