Rut Domènech

California Prescribed Fire Monitoring Program, UC Davis
Davis, California
Dr. Rut Domènech joined the AFE Board in April 2022. She is a fire ecologist employed at the University of California, Davis, where she leads the California Prescribed Fire Monitoring Program. She has spent her research career in Spain assessing forest effects under different types of fire regimes and prescribed fire, as well as understanding heather fire regimes in Scotland. She has also focused on mosaic dynamics and social management to improve rural areas' landscape resilience and adaptation to climate change. She holds a PhD in Pinus halepensis fuel types management from the Universitat Politècnica of Catalonia. Previously, she worked as a research ecologist and landscape manager within the UNESCO Terres de l’Ebre Region.

Bob Keane

Retired, USFS
Missoula, Montana
Dr. Robert E. Keane was a Research Ecologist with the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station at the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory from 1994 to 2020.  His most recent research includes 1) developing ecological computer simulation models for the exploring landscape, fire, and climate dynamics, 2) conducting basic research in wildland fuel science, and 3) investigating the ecology and restoration of whitebark pine. He received his B.S. degree in forest engineering from the University of Maine, Orono; his M.S. degree in forest ecology from the University of Montana, Missoula; and his Ph.D. degree in forest ecology from the University of Idaho, Moscow.

Mark Kaib

Retired, USFWS
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Mark completed graduate school at the University of Arizona, where his studies in the Southwest and Mexico included a multidisciplinary approach to reconstruct differences in forest fire ecologies and cultural patterns using fire-scarred conifers, documentary sources, and ethnographical methods. His work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service included fire ecology, restoration, and application of science to enhance fire management as it relates to resource and wildlife conservation.  Enhancing the vital role of fire and native cultures to conservation of ecosystem services is Mark’s passion. Recently retired, Mark is more committed than ever to mentoring and inspiring our next generation of conservation leaders.

Eric Knapp

USDA Forest Service
Redding, California
Dr. Eric Knapp is a research ecologist with the US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station. He studies how forests that evolved with frequent fire have changed in the absence of fire, the ecological effects of forest and fuel management alternatives (including prescribed fire), and how different factors interact to influence severity in wildfires. He has been on the AFE board since January 2017, currently serving on the outreach committee and chairing the membership committee.

Lenya Quinn-Davidson

University of California Agriculture and Natural Resouces
Humboldt, California

Lenya Quinn-Davidson is a Fire Advisor and the Director of UCANR's Fire Network. Lenya’s primary focus is on the human connection with fire, and increasing the use of prescribed fire for habitat restoration, invasive species control, and ecosystem and community resiliency. Lenya works on prescribed fire issues at various scales, including locally in Humboldt County, where she works with private landowners to bring fire back as a land management tool; at the state level, where she collaborates on policy and research related to prescribed fire, and helps inspire and support prescribed burn associations; and nationally, through her work and leadership on prescribed fire training exchanges (TREX). Lenya is passionate about using prescribed fire to inspire and empower people, from rural ranchers to agency leaders to young women pursuing careers in fire management, and everyone in between.

Christina Restaino

University of Nevada, Reno Extension
Reno, Nevada

Dr. Christina Restaino is an Assistant Professor and Natural Resources Specialist, serving the state of Nevada, Great Basin, and Sierra Nevada regions. Her emphasis is on wildland fire science, forestry, and natural resource management. She is also the Director of the Living With Fire Program. Christina’s background is in applied forest and fire ecology. Her research has looked at the intersection of land management and forest resilience to fire, drought, and climate change. She has worked extensively in science outreach and communication, translating ecological principles to resource management and forest and fire policy. Christina’s work has spanned the western United States and has focused more recently in the Sierra Nevada region of California and Nevada. 

Robert scheller

North Carolina State University
Raleigh, North Carolina
Dr. Scheller is the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Natural Resources at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and Professor of Landscape Ecology at in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources. He received his PhD in Forest Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on how landscapes have changed, how they will change, and why it matters. His research examines past and future landscape change due to climate change, disturbances, and forest management. His research informs policy choices, regionally and globally. Robert has published more than 100 manuscripts and book chapters.

Courtney schultz

Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
Dr. Courtney Schultz is a professor of forest and fire policy at Colorado State University. Her research examines barriers and opportunities for improving federal fire management policy and governance. Along with her students and research partners, she has conducted numerous studies over the last decade on prescribed fire, post-fire, and forest restoration and fuels reduction policy, planning, and decision making. Courtney is passionate about effective science-policy communication and works to connect scientists with policymakers to inform the policy process. She joined the AFE board in 2022 and holds a Ph.D. in Forestry from the University of Montana and an M.S. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Maryland.

Jens Stevens

USDA Forest Service
Washington DC
Jens Stevens is the National Program Lead for Wildland Fire and Fuels Research with the US Forest Service in Washington DC. Jens has conducted wide-ranging research on forests in California, New Mexico, and elsewhere in western North America, which seeks to understand the drivers and ecosystem impacts of wildland fire at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Prior to joining the USFS, Jens was a place-based Research Ecologist with the US Geological Survey in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Jens has a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California Davis, where he studied interactions between fire, climate and forest management in the Sierra Nevada of California, and a M.S. in Plant Biology from the University of Vermont, where he studied fire-invasive plant interactions in the Florida Everglades.

Monique Wynecoop

USDA Forest Service
Northern Rockies Fire Science Network
Colville, Washington
Since 2008, I have been working as a Region 6 Fire Ecologist for the US Forest Service (USFS) as a NE Washington Area Ecologist, within the ancestral homeland of the Spokane, Kalispel, and Confederated Colville Tribes in Northeastern Washington.  I’m also a Fire Ecologist/Tribal Liaison for the Northern Rockies Fire Science Network, as well as a board member for Northwest Scientific Association and Diversity & Inclusivity committee member for the Association of Fire Ecology.  In addition to my professional and academic experience in Fire Ecology, I have a diverse academic and experience background working with Federal, State, and Tribal agencies in the areas of Ecology & Conservation Biology, Fishery Resource Management, and Tribal Treaty Rights & Water Rights.

administrative director
Annie Oxarart

Association for Fire Ecology
St. Augustine, Florida
Annie Oxarart began working with AFE in June 2017. She enjoys serving AFE members, the wildland fire community, and creating opportunities for researchers, managers, and educators to interact. Prior to working with AFE, Annie was a Program Coordinator and Outreach Specialist for the University of Florida, School of Forest Resources and Conservation for 9 years. In this position, she worked for the Southern Fire Exchange, developed climate change curriculum materials and trained educators, and conducted research and evaluation projects. Annie received her M.S. degree in Forest Resources and Conservation from the University of Florida in 2008, with a focus on social science and human dimensions.

Communications and program assistant
hannah hull

Association for Fire Ecology
Tampa, Florida
Hannah graduated from Florida State University in Spring 2023 with a B.S. in Public Relations and International Affairs, concentrating in Urban Planning. She spent the last year of her program studying permaculture education and global climate change at University of Sussex in Brighton, UK. While abroad she co-founded the Forest Food Garden Society, presented in the 2nd International Forest Garden / Food Forest Symposium, and served as a mentor for the Green United youth program. Growing up in Florida, she has seen first-hand the important ecological effects of prescribed burns as a vital land stewardship practice. Hannah is passionate about science communication and technical writing.