Sarah M. McCaffrey

Her current research focuses on broader social pieces of the fire management system including how stakeholders conceive of becoming a fire adapted community and barriers to increased use of fire as a management tool,  both prescribed fire and managing wildfires for resource benefits.  She has also begun work with a colleague to assess how social media can provide insight into various aspects of fire management, including whether tweets related to wildfire smoke can serve as reasonable proxy for air quality and how media portrayal of fire management varies  overtime and between coutnires (US, Canada and Australia).

Madsen, Rachel S.; Haynes, Hylton J. G.; McCaffrey, Sarah M. 2018. Wildfire risk reduction in the United States: Leadership staff perceptions of local fire department roles and responsibilities. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 27: 451-458.

Sachdeva, Sonja; McCaffrey, Sarah. 2018. Using social media to predict air pollution during California wildfires. In: Proceedings of the international conference on social media and society; 2018 July 18-20; Copenhagen, Denmark. SM Society. 5 p. https://doi.org/10.1145/3217804.3217946.

Past research has included projects examining wildfire risk perception, incentives for creation and maintenance of defensible space, social acceptability of prescribed fire and thinning, and characteristics of effective communication efforts.  She hasalso initiated work examining social issues that occur during and after fires including evacuation decision making, agency-community interaction during fires, and long-term health impacts of experiencing a fire.   This has included work interviewing emergency responders and residents after wildfires in the U.S. as well as work in Australia where I assisted the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre with their post-fire data collection following the February 7^th 2009 bushfires. Her PhD research examined homeowner beliefs and actions in relation to defensible space and fuels management in Incline Village, Nevada.  

McCaffrey, Sarah; Wilson, Robyn; Konar, Avishek. 2017. Should I stay or should I go now? Or should I wait and see? Influences on wildfire evacuation decisions. Risk Analysis. doi: 10.1111/risa.12944.

McCaffrey, Sarah M.; Olsen, Christine S. 2012. Research perspectives on the public and fire management: a synthesis of current social science on eight essential questions. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-104. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 40 p.

McCaffrey, Sarah; Stidham, Melanie; Toman, Eric; Shindler, Bruce. 2011. Outreach programs, peer pressure, and common sense: What motivates homeowners to mitigate wildfire risk. Environmental Management. 48(3): 475-488.

Dr. McCaffrey's research focuses on understanding a wide range of the social aspects of fire management.   A particular emphasis of her research is working with managers to: 1)  identify areas where existing research could provide insight as well as where more research is needed, and 2) synthesizing and communicating relevant research findings.

Social dynamics are a critical part of fire management. No matter how ecologically and technically sound and well planned a management activity, its ultimate effectiveness will be highly dependant on social factors related to the effort including acceptance of the activity and its potential effect on a range of social values.  As the societal impacts of wildfires grow, the active involvement of all stakeholders in fire management will be central to successful efforts to reduce the risk. Understanding relevant beliefs and expectations, of the landscape and of land management agencies, will be crucial information for managers in developing effective plans to mitigate the fire risk . In addition, understanding how internal organizational factors interact with the external social factors will be critical to improving outcomes.  Dr. McCaffrey's research helps clarify the reality behind much of the conventional wisdom about social dynamics in relation to fire and fuels management and what shapes those beliefs and actions:  a clear and accurate conception of social dynamics can help ensure that management efforts are targeted on activities more likely to improve future outcomes.