Empowering the Next Generation of Fire Leaders

Wildfires, fire seasons, and community impacts have intensified, and will continue to in future decades due to mismanagement, climate change, and colonial systems that criminalize Indigenous burning. In this talk, Ryan Reed, Co-found and Program Director of FireGeneration Collaborative, will speak on the Traditional practices of the Karuk people in the Klamath River Basin while touching on the settler colonial disruptions of Indigenous management. Driven by these dynamics, he co-founded FireGen to empower marginalized communities of the next generation. The organization prioritizes Indigenous leadership by engaging in beneficial fire policy, education, organizing, and research.

The presentation is part of the Woven Together: Braiding Indigenous and Western Sciences for Shared Solutions to Environmental Challenges. Co-sponsored by the Hanson Center for Inclusive STEM Education, the Indigenous Studies Program, the Engineering Division, and the Engineering Studies Program.