Search This Blog

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Many WFM RD&A Staff Participate in Teaching S-495

S-495, Geospatial Fire Analysis, Interpretation, and Application is a course that teaches future Long-Term Analysts (LTANs) the concepts of weather retrieval and analysis, critiquing of geospatial data, and how to complete and interpret fire behavior analyses. The class began in November of 2012 with eight online units accessed through the University of Idaho and the National Interagency Fuels Technology Transfer (NIFTT). After students complete the online work, they attend the classroom portion to complete the final exam and receive course completion certificates. This year, the course was taught from both the National Advanced Fire Resource Institute (NAFRI) in Tucson, Arizona and the Northern Rockies Training Center (NRTC) with video-teleconference and GoToMeeting links that provided students in both locations with the same content. WFM RD&A staff that participated in development and delivery of course content were Tonja Opperman (Co-Steering Committee Chair), Erin Noonan-Wright (Instructor), Morgan Pence (Instructor), Diane Rau (Instructor), and Dan Mindar (Instructor). All of the online content is available for self-paced learning at www.niftt.gov under the Training menu. Watch for announcements for the next S-495 offering in the late summer of 2014.