The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) has secured a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation to support a fire-science project over five years. The research will involve the Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the University of Nevada, Reno. The initiative, titled "Harnessing the Data Revolution for Fire Science," is funded through the NSF's Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This program aims to boost research competitiveness in targeted states by enhancing STEM capabilities.
The project's main objective is to enhance Nevada's capacity for wildland fire research, education, and workforce development. It aims to demonstrate this increased capacity through technology-enhanced fire science within the sagebrush ecosystem. This collaboration involves three major research institutions and faculty and students from NSHE undergraduate schools.
Researchers will explore new economic development areas for Nevada with a focus on workforce development and diversity. They plan to hire new faculty and offer more scholarships for STEM students. The project seeks to improve land and fire management by scaling fire effects from smaller to larger fires across four areas: ecology; hydrology between events; fire processes; and emissions during events.
“This project will generate and harness large amounts of data from diverse sensor platforms to accurately model landscapes and wildland fires from plot to watershed scales,” stated Frederick Harris, EPSCoR project director.
The award will boost Nevada’s abilities in wildland fire science, unmanned systems, data processing, modeling, and rapid deployment while strengthening collaborations with major agencies in the Great Basin and Western U.S.
At the University of Nevada, Reno, several faculty members are involved:
- Scotty Strachan on cyberinfrastructure
- Erin Hanan on ecohydrology
- Graham Kent on networks
- Neil Lareau on weather lidar
- Christos Papachristos on robotics
- Alireza Tavakkoli on AI
- Feng Yan on machine learning
This award is one of five 2022 “EPSCoR R11 Track-1” awards aimed at developing adaptive research infrastructure for future technologies.
NSHE leaders expressed their views on this significant funding:
“NSF continues to serve as an essential partner in supporting the critical work of the NSHE EPSCoR,” said Cathy McAdoo. “As our region currently faces extreme fire and water challenges, we appreciate this investment in Fire Science research.”
“This marks an important investment for Nevada and the West,” noted Brian Sandoval. “This NSF-supported project takes a comprehensive approach.”
“This NSF award funds critical fire science research,” commented Kumud Acharya. “DRI has expertise in wildland fire research.”
"By joining forces," remarked Keith Whitfield, "UNR, DRI, and UNLV are poised to reveal the power of cooperation."