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About

Mission

The North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange (NAFSE) is a valuable, credible, and relevant hub for science information delivery and collaboration between managers and researchers to create a resilient North Atlantic landscape.

We bring people together. We serve as an anchor for the fire science community in the northeast United States by:

  • connecting scientists and managers

  • helping generate innovative solutions for fire-related challenges

  • promoting and facilitating fire science research and partnerships

  • increasing evidence-based knowledge exchange

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NAFSE is funded by the Joint Fire Science Program

as part of their Fire Science Exchange Network.

Fire science communication in a complex landscape.

Leadership Team

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Dr. Nick Skowronski, Principal Investigator
nskowronski@fs.fed.us
Nick Skowronski has been a Research Forester with the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station (NRS) since 2007. He has also served as the prescribed burn coordinator at Ft. Dix, NJ and as a research technician for the NRS.  Nick’s research is focused on the impacts that land management activities have on fuel loading, carbon cycling, and habitat quality. He is particularly interested in estimating canopy fuels in three-dimensional space using lasers on the ground and in aircraft.  Having worked formerly in fire management, Nick is extremely interested in developing better relationships between scientists and land managers so that research can become more integrated with the needs in the field.

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Erin Lane, Exchange Coordinator
erin.d.lane@usda.gov

Erin is a co-founder and coordinator of the North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange serving the fire community of this region through advancement and delivery of relevant fire science.  Erin also works as the main coordinator for the United States Department of Agriculture Northeast Climate Hub—delivering science-based information to farmers and foresters to help them adapt to the changing climate. Her passions lay in teamwork and collaborations with partners. She enjoys bringing people together and addressing challenges. Erin started her career with the US Forest Service in 1997 and began by spending several seasons as a wildland firefighter first, learning about positive communications through digging line with her crew during 50 hour shifts. Tremendous accomplishments were achieved due to the camaraderie Erin experienced on her Hot Shot Crew and she strives to develop this highly effective function with her current teams.

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Amanda Mahaffey, Workshop and Field Trip Coordinator
amanda@forestguild.org

Amanda Mahaffey is a co-founder of the North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange and serves as Deputy Director for the Forest Stewards Guild, a professional organization of foresters and affiliated natural resource stewards that promote and practice ecologically responsible forestry. Amanda collaborates with partners on place-based projects on themes such as Foresters for the Birds, Women and Our Woods, the Rhode Island Woodland Partnership, and climate change adaptation. Amanda is a Maine licensed forester and holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Southern Maine. She has a history of conducting effective collaborative events and is excited to bring the Forest Guild’s experience with fire science and management in the Southwest to the North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange.

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Eric Evenson, Science Communications Specialist
nafsehelp@gmail.com

Eric Evenson serves as the Science Communications Specialist for the North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange (NAFSE).  Eric spent 33 years with the National Weather Service (NWS) that included stops in Maine, Montana, Missouri, Idaho, and Vermont. For 22 years he served as an Incident Meteorologist (IMET) communicating critical fire weather information at large wildfire incidents. Also as an IMET Eric was part of the Training Cadre and mentored new IMET trainees. As a lead forecaster with the NWS in Burlington, Vermont he was part of the Fire Weather Team communicating and coordinating with the local fire and forest community. In addition, he served as the NWS Liaison to the Fire Science Working Team of the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission (NFFPC). Eric has always enjoyed sharing and communicating scientific information to the fire and forest community and is excited to continue that work by serving those in the NAFSE region.
 

Catalyzing collaboration between managers and scientists to create a safe and resilient North Atlantic landscape.

Community Representatives

Community Representatives provide important feedback to the Leadership Team on NAFSE’s vision and plan of work, share timely and relevant information on the needs and interests of the community, and assist with the dissemination of information to and from their organizations.

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Jon Bailey, TNC

Thomas Brady, NFFPC

Joel Carlson, MAARNG

Jenny Case, TNC

Kenneth Clark, USFS

Ryan Hasko, NJ Audubon

Maris Gabliks, USFS

Michael Gallagher, USFS

Tom Gerber, NJFFS
Neil Gifford, APBPC

Lauren Howard, Arcadia U.

Inga La Puma, LANDFIRE

Greg Nowacki, USFS

James MacKinnon, DLF-NS

William Patterson III, UMass

Kathy Schwager, BNL

Albert Simeoni, WPI

Tim Simmons, Simmons Stewardship

Leadership
Community Reps
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