Final WFM RD&A Mentee for the 2013 Fire Season

Mark Pater, Fire Ecologist, with the BLM in Gila Arizona, worked with the RDA from Aug. 26^th- Sept. 7^th as our final 2 week mentee for fire season 2013.  Mark is a Geospatial Analyst (GSAN) and Strategic Operational Planner (SOPL).  He provided Short Term and Near Term Fire Behavior analysis and FSPro analysis to 3 fires; Little Elk and Coxey in the Eastern Great Basin and Knife Lake in the Eastern Geographic  Area.  Mark also provided us with a thorough review of some of our internal products and the Rocky Mountain Center website.  He also helped us prepare for a new release of WFDSS by testing the new functionality in the training environment prior to release on the production site.  Mark was very helpful, enthusiastic, and great to work with.  He is an excellent supporter and proponent of WFDSS.  We look forward to working with Mark again in the future.

Mentee Dana Cohen Worked at Decision Support Center

Dana Cohen, smiling after a hard day's work at the DSC

Dana Cohen, Fire Management Specialist at the National Key Deer Refuge in Florida, worked with the RD&A as a mentee from August 12-27th.  She is a GSAN and LTAN(t).  Dana was able to work with us in person by helping staff a Decision Support Center (DSC) that was established in Boise, Idaho.  The DSC supported the Multi-Agency Coordination (MAC) group working in support of the numerous fires in the Eastern Great Basin.  Along with other staff members, Dana  provided analysis support to individual fires and provided Values Inventory reports and other spatial analysis to the MAC group.  The center supported numerous fires in the two-week time period.  It was a pleasure having Dana work with the Decision Support group in Boise.  She was motivated, helpful, and displayed initiative. Thanks, Dana!

Jon Rieck Works with the RD&A as a Mentee

Jon Rieck, away from his laptop.

WFM RD&A Mentee Program

Jon Rieck, a scientist with the RMRS Missoula Forestry Sciences Lab, worked with the Wildland Fire Management RD&A for a 2 week mentee assignment July 29^th- August 10^th.  Jon is a qualified GSAN, BHAV, and FEMO.  He supported one incident over several days in the Northwest Geographic area while working for the RD&A (the Green Ridge fire on the Deschutes National Forest).  He provided FSPro and Near Term Behavior analysis, of which both were utilized in the incident's published decision content.  Jon reviewed the Rocky Mountain Center website and suggested changes to improve the site.  He also worked on a project that compared potential future weather forecasts with current forecasts for fire behavior modeling in the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS).  We appreciate Jon's interest, enthusiasm, and willingness to dive deep into an important project for which very little research or validation has been conducted thus far.  Thank you, Jo--we look forward to working with you in the future.