Born: Calgary, Alberta. Education: 1988 B.Sc. University of Victoria (Geography) 1994 M.Sc. University of Alberta.

Professional Experience:
I have been involved with 'fire' in some capacity since 1984 when I began my career as a fire fighter on the University of Calgary's student fire crew. During that summer I was introduced to the Provincial 'Helitack' (now called Rappatack) program and subsequently worked with them for the next 7 fire seasons, spending the last 3 as a crew leader (spotter). During this time I initial attacked many fires and was lucky enough to go to Manitoba in 1989 during their big fire season. It was getting tougher and tougher to meet the fitness standards each year and therefore I had to look into another way of remaining involved in the fire business. During these years I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Victoria majoring in Physical Geography. A few years later, I wrote a thesis proposal and submitted it to four western Canadian Universities and found interest from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. My thesis was titled 'Climate change and fire danger' and involved the initialisation of a physical evaporation model to a forest environment and the subsequent running of various climate change scenarios through the model in an attempt to estimate future fire danger conditions. During Graduate studies I worked a summer at the Northern Forestry Centre (NoFC-CFS) in Edmonton for Kelvin Hirsch. I assisted in compiling a wildland/urban interface bibliography as well as working on an initial attack effectiveness study.

Following the completion of my M.Sc., I began volunteering at NoFC and received a minor contract. I then moved to Penticton, BC, where I had contract work with the BCFS on a grass-curing project and with BC Parks developing a Fire Management Plan for Skagit Valley Provincial Park. I next worked on a Forest Renewal BC (FRBC) project at the Pacific Forestry Centre (CFS) in Victoria with their small Fire Research group. This particular project was to develop a stand and landscape scale model to assist in re-introducing fire in southeastern areas of BC. Effective initial attack in the region has led to an 'ingrowth' of Douglas-fir over the last 80 years, a change in forest cover and consequently an increase in the fire hazard. It was on completion of this two-year project that an opportunity arose in New Zealand with the Forest Research Institute (NZFRI) in their fire research program. I worked there for 2.5 years living in Rotorua and Christchurch during that time. I was involved in a grass curing study, the development of a wildfire threat rating system and the development of fire behaviour models in tussock, crop stubble and scrub fuels. New Zealand was an incredible experience for my family and for my work and has led to an increased interest in rugby! It was a very difficult decision to leave, but the opportunity to join a new research group in my home province was a very powerful force that in the end I could not pass up!

E-mail: Greg Baxter

Phone: (780)865-6981