September 26th, 2024 at 2pm PST
From August 16 to September 22, 2020, the 86,509 acres CZU Lightning Complex Fires burned in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, causing catastrophic impacts.
From the perspective of a foreign researcher, Clara Aubonnet's presentation will attempt to explain how power rivalries over forest management and firefighting agencies complicated the response to the CZU. This enables a geographical analysis of localized socio-political situations around fire and forests and the representations of people at different scales. In this way, she tries to gain a better understanding of the interdependence between societies, nature, and the causes of fires.
This work concerns human beings and is part of a desire to understand and improve the complex situations different parts of the world are currently experiencing. Its intention is not to take sides, make judgments, or speak for those concerned, but to provide a method of analysis that everyone can seize in the way they need. Respect and acknowledgment of people, their way of life and the context in which they interact is therefore essential.
Speaker: Clara Aubonnet
Clara Aubonnet is currently a PhD student in geography with a specialization in geopolitics. Her thesis is part of the research program of the Doctoral School of Social Sciences at the University of Paris 8 in France. It is carried out within the IFG Lab of the French Institute of Geopolitics. Her research is related to wildland fires, and her thesis is entitled: "Cross-border wildfires in the Pacific Northwest: a geopolitical study in British Columbia (Canada) and Washington State (USA)". Clara’s research is based on field surveys in the Pacific Northwest that began in February 2023 and will run through 2024 and 2025.
As part of her Master's degree in 2022, Clara had the opportunity to do research work in California, USA, to learn about the CZU Lightning Complex Fires that took place in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties in 2020. This Master's thesis was the beginning of her inspiration for her current research work, thanks to what she learned but above all thanks to the inspiring people she was able to meet.
