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Brett Davis

Ecologist

Address: 
5775 Highway 10 West
Missoula, MT 59808-9361
Phone: 
406-829-7379
Fax: 
406-329-4877
Contact Brett Davis

Education

  • Colorado State University, M.S., Forestry / Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems, 2002
  • University of Colorado, B.A., Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology / Psychology, 1994

    • Professional Experience

    GIS Specialist / Fire Modeler, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute
    2002 to 2010

    GIS Technician / Resource Technician, City of Boulder Colorado - Open Space Department
    1995 to 1999

    Featured Publications

    Davis, Brett; Miller, Carol L.; Parks, Sean A., 2010. Retrospective fire modeling: Quantifying the impacts of fire suppression
    Davis, Brett; van Wagtendonk, Jan; Beck, Jen; van Wagtendonk, Kent, 2009. Modeling fuel succession

    Publications

    Davis, Brett, 2016. Mapping severe fire potential across the contiguous United States
    Gunderson, Kari; Carver, Steve; Davis, Brett, 2011. Human relationships to fire prone ecosystems: Mapping values at risk on contested landscapes
    Simulations show where fires would have spread and reveal hidden consequences of suppression.

    The hidden consequences of fire suppression

    Post date: November 10, 2015
    Researchers have investigated the true costs of suppressing wildfires and found the results to have broad national applicability. These methods are being evaluated in the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest, and findings improve the quality and consistency of fire and fuels management decisions. This research highlights the importance of wilderness areas for understanding fire ecology within unmanaged versus more heavily managed landscapes.  
    Image: Burn probabilities were generated to aid managers on the Helena National Forest in determining risk and hazard to structures in the area.

    Evaluating proposed fuel treatment effectiveness in the Upper Tenmile Watershed

    Post date: July 25, 2016
    In April, 2015 the Helena National Forest (HNF) requested that the Fire Modeling Institute conduct a wildfire probability modeling and risk assessment study to analyze proposed fuel treatments in the project area. The HNF requested this study include modeling the probability of burning, potential fire behavior, and identification of areas where large fires and/or fires potentially destructive to structures were most likely to originate.

    National Strategic Program Areas: 
    Wildland Fire and Fuels
    RMRS Science Program Areas: 
    Fire, Fuel and Smoke