2023 Oct 18 - 7:30pm - Dana Auditorium

Event Summary

In the Q&A session, five panelists representing state, tribal, and federal government organizations as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) discussed key themes of the film, greatest needs in working towards human coexistence with wildfire, and career trajectories for young people interested in contributing to wildfire risk reduction.

Panelists emphasized that “it’s not a fire problem, it’s not a nature problem…it’s a people problem.” They addressed the role of policy and policymakers vs. individual communities and residents of high-risk areas, and pointed out that the point of the film was not to focus on any specific piece of policy, but rather civilians’ high-level relationship to wildfire. They stated that the whole point of the film was to “change the stigma that wildfire is a monster,” and move towards a symbiotic relationship between people, the places that they live, and the natural hazards that exist there. 

Panelists highlighted careers in areas like firefighting, public health, land use and community and urban planning as possible routes for interested students to pursue, but they also stressed the importance of transferable skills like program design, community engagement, and collaborative problem solving as the unique threat posed by wildfires and other natural hazards evolves over the coming decades.

-Jack Johnson