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Wildland
Fire Operations Research Group
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Marty Alexander |
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In mid January 2004, Marty Alexander, a Senior Fire Behavior Research Officer with the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) stationed at the Northern Forestry Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, began a one-year secondment with the FERIC Wildland Fire Operations Research Group. He had previously served as the CFS representative on the group’s Advisory Committee since its inception in early 2001.
Marty is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta and a Honorary Research Associate in the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management at the University of New Brunswick. He has served as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Wildland Fire and Consulting Editor (Fire Behavior) for Wildfire magazine. He was one of the co-coordinators of the International Crown Fire Modelling Experiment undertaken in the Northwest Territories, 1995-2001.
Marty initially joined the CFS in May 1976 at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He transferred to the Northern Forestry Centre in March 1981.
Marty has in his 27.5-year career with the CFS specialized in studying the physical aspects and impacts of wildland fires, including the practical application of such knowledge to fire management issues. He was one of the architects of the Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction System and has been heavily involved in fire behavior training on a national basis (e.g., CIFFC sponsored Advanced Wildland Fire Behavior and Wildland Fire Behavior Specialist courses; Principles of Fire Behavior, Wildland Fire – Safety on the Fireline, and Understanding the FWI System CD-ROM based training courses). In 2003, Marty received the International Wildland Fire Safety Award from the International Association of Wildland Fire for his research and efforts in fire behavior and firefighter safety. He has authored or co-authored over 250 publications and reports dealing with wildland fire.
From 1989-93, Marty was on professional development/educational leave from the CFS in Australia and New Zealand. While in Australia from 1989-92 he served as a Visiting Fire Researcher in the CSIRO National Bushfire Research Unit located in Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, and as a Ph.D. Scholar in the Department of Forestry, Australian National University. In 1992-93 he completed a one-year secondment as a Visiting Fire Research Scientist with the New Zealand Forest Research Institute based in Rotorua. For his work in New Zealand, he was made the first honourary member of the Forest and Rural Fire Association of New Zealand.
Prior to joining the CFS, Marty worked part-time while going to university for the Colorado State Forest Service as a student assistant for the State Fire Protection Forester (1972) as a forestry research technician in the National Fire-Danger Rating Research Unit of the USDA Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station (1972-73 and 1973-74). In the summer of 1971 he worked for Domtar Woodlands Ltd. in northern Quebec on a precommercial thinning crew. Marty was a member of the Bighorn Inter-regional hotshot crew for two summers (1972 and 1973) which provided him with the opportunity to fight fire in Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and California. However, his first taste of firefighting came in 1967 as a 14-year old boy scout – although the fire was small, it left a lasting impression on him.
Marty graduated from high school in Val D’or, Quebec in 1970. He received his B.Sc degree in Forest Management Science from Colorado State University (CSU) in 1974. Following graduation, Marty worked for the Nezperce National Forest on fuel inventory in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area of north-central Idaho and in slash burning in the districts. In 1975 he returned to CSU and began work on a M.Sc. degree in Forest Fire Science (thesis: Fuels description in lodgepole pine stands of the Colorado Front Range) which was awarded in 1979. Marty attained his Ph.D. degree in Forestry from the Australian National University in 1998 (thesis: Crown fire thresholds in exotic pine plantations of Australasia).
Marty, his wife Heather and their four children (3 boys one 1 girl) live on a wooded acreage southeast of Edmonton near the southern extent of the western boreal forest where he serves as one of the fire guardians for the New Sarepta Rural Fire Response Area. He continues to be involved in both ice and inline hockey as an administrator, official and coach.
Phone: (780) 449-1257; 865-8223 (to leave messages)
Senior Researcher with FERIC Wildland Fire Operations Research Group Collaborates with ASRD Forest Proection Division Staff in the Continuing Development of PROMETHEUS 12/14/2004Can Wildland Conflagrations Be Stopped? 12/13/2004
An Excellent Source of Wildland Fire Publications Available on the WWW 11/16/2004
USDA Forest Service Publishes Fuels Planning Fact Sheets on the WWW 10/29/2004
Proceedings of International Wildland Fire Summits Now Available on the WWW 10/22/2004
On the Availability of Canadian Proceedings from the Interior West Fire Council Conferences 10/20/2004
A Comment on Models and Modelling in Fire/Fuel Management 10/18/2004
Highlighting Four Publications on Forest-Fire Fuel Properties 10/14/2004
Limitations on Accuracy of Wildland Fire Behavior Predictions 9/24/2004
Advancing the Science of Crown Fire Behavior 9/2/2004
How Fast Can a Firefighter Move Upslope on an Escape Route? 9/2/2004
Two Recent Articles by Senior FERIC Researcher Published in Fire Management Today 8/11/2004
Facilitating Technology Transfer in the Wildland Fire Community 4/20/2004
Discussion Paper on Fire Behavior and Wildland Firefighter Safety Now Available 4/12/2004