The Integrated Research Management Team - A Novel Framework for Integrating Wildland Fire Research & Management

US Forest Service, The ember Alliance, Southern Fire Exchange, Tall Timbers, and the University of Florida IFAS

May 19, 2026 | 10am PT/1pm ET

Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected.

Presenters: James Furman, US Forest Service and Dan Gualtieri, The Ember Alliance

Webinar Description: Our landscapes face increasingly complex fire management challenges including fire exclusion, changing fire seasons, invasive species, and growing wildland-urban interface. To better address these challenges, timely and relevant fire science is needed to develop new knowledge, tools, and practices. Research has demonstrated that knowledge attained through coproduction is more readily applied by practitioners and research co-production is a pathway towards tackling ‘wicked problems.’ In wildland fire contexts, accomplishing co-produced science is often difficult, as hosting research on active incidents and operations presents many safety and logistical challenges. The Integrated Research Management Team (IRMT) is a framework modeled after the Incident Command System and developed collaboratively among the USDA Forest Service, US Department of War, and others. The IRMT bridges the gap between fire science researchers and wildland fire managers and practitioners, facilitating research campaigns on active, operational, prescribed fires. This webinar features James Furman, USFS Fire Management Specialist, exploring the IRMT’s origin, solving real challenges faced by wildland fire researchers and managers. Dan Gualtieri, Wildland Fire Science Coordinator for The Ember Alliance, dives deeper into the framework's current IRMT structure.

Webinar Recording: If you can't make the webinar, look for the recording to be posted on the Southern Fire Exchange YouTube Webinar Archive.

Questions? Contactus@southernfireexchange.org