Sara McAllister

Sara McAllister (board member since 2019) Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Missoula MT. Dr. McAllister has been a Research Mechanical Engineer with the U.S. Forest Service at the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana since 2009. As part of the National Fire Decision Support Center, her research focuses on the underlying physics that governs wildland fire spread. Specifically, her research includes understanding the critical conditions for solid fuel ignition, flammability of live forest fuels, ignition due to convective heating, and fuel bed property effects on burning rate. She has authored a textbook on combustion fundamentals and over 70 peer-reviewed publications and conference papers. In addition to IAWF, she is an active member of the International Association of Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) and the Combustion Institute. Dr. McAllister earned her Ph.D. and M.S. in mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and her B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno.