This session will begin with a description of the *FIRE-PLAN: Merging diverse knowledge systems to advance restoration of fire-dependent lands and cultures in the Great Lakes region* project, a newly funded NSF Planning Grant, and end as a workshop to identify opportunities for future collaborations. The FIRE-PLAN project will support a series of listening sessions at locations across the Upper Great Lakes from 2024-2025 centered on the intent to bring together Fire Ecologists, Fire Practitioners, and Indigenous Knowledge Practitioners in a collaborative space to co-produce a larger grant proposal to support a region-wide synthesis of tree-ring data, Indigenous Knowledge, and landscape modeling to better understand the foundational role of people and fire in the forests of the Great Lakes Region. Please join us to learn about this emerging project and to contribute your thoughts about potential collaborations between the project team and the Stewardship Network.
Monday, January 29th, 2024
2:20 pm - 3:20 pm
Presenters
Evan LarsonUniversity of Wisconsin - Plattevile
Evan Larson is a father, husband, teacher, scientist, and enthusiast of wild places. Evan's childhood took place in the woods of central Minnesota, helping his parents tend 80 acres of mixed hardwood forests. Drawn by mountains, oceans, and forests, his formal education includes an Environmental Science bachelor’s degree from Willamette University, degrees in geography from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (M.S.) and the University of Minnesota (PhD), and a Faculty Fulbright fellowship to Mid Sweden University in Sundsvall. Less formally, Evan's philosophy of life has been informed by significant doses of reflection, books, chainsaws and firewood. Evan has 22 years of experience using tree rings to investigate environmental history including past patterns of climate, disturbance, and forest change. As a Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences & Society at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Evan teaches courses that blur the lines between physical and cultural geography and that are infused with undergraduate research in search of transformative learning experiences.
The work that is currently at the center of Evan's thoughts and energy is fueled by the enthusiasm of amazing collaborators who are together working to re-story the interwoven relationships among people, fire, and pine in Great Lakes Forests.
https://www.uwplatt.edu/profile/larsonev
