SAFE Award Winners

The Student Association for Fire Ecology presents awards at conferences to recognize undergraduate and graduate students who demonstrate great service and potential as a professional in the field of fire ecology. See below for a listing of award winners. In addition, you can learn about past recipients of the Mike da Luz Student Scholarship.

Congratulations to all our student award winners! We look forward to watching your careers grow in the years ahead!

2019 Fire Ecology and Management Congress in Tucson

Edward Komarek Sr. Graduate Student Excellence Award

Dr. Laura Marshall, University of Arizona

Laura A. Marshall, PhD from the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research is beginning her career in forest ecology and resilience, with an interest in the intersection of past disturbance and climate as a driver of community change. She is currently working on vegetation type conversion in southwestern US forests, and pursuing a graduate certificate in geographic information science. She is often found running trails in the mountains around Tucson.

Student Poster Contest Winners (pictured left to right)

1st place: Mark Kreider, Utah State University

Poster Title: Landscape and micro-scale factors interact to influence post-fire aspen seedling regeneration

 

2nd place: Scott Sprague, University of Idaho

Poster Title: Us and Them Examining the cultural perceptions of interagency and private wildland fire fighters

 

3rd place: Alexander Howe, Utah State University

Poster Title: Quantifying burn severity heterogeneity using the 2017 Brianhead Fire as a case study. 

2017 Fire Ecology and Management Congress in Orlando

At the 7th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress, Darcy Hammond was presented with the Edward Komarek Sr. Graduate Student Excellence Award. Darcy is a PhD candidate in the Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences in the College of Natural Resources at the University of Idaho. Her work examines effects of burn severity on post-fire conifer and understory regeneration across four western U.S. forest ecosystems.

2016 3rd Southwest Fire Ecology Conference in Tucson

Edward Komarek Sr. Graduate Student Excellence Award - Emma Williams

Harold Weaver Undergraduate Student Excellence Award - Elizabeth Wright

2015 Fire Ecology and Management Congress in San Antonio

2014 Large Wildland Fires Conference in Missoula

2013 Wildland Fire in the Appalachians Conference

Harold Weaver Undergraduate Student Excellence Award - Kristen Miller

2012 5th International Fire Ecology & Management Congress

Edward Komarek Graduate Student Excellence Award – Dr. Adam Watts and Micah-John Beierle

2011 Interior West Fire Ecology Conference

Graduate Award - Chris Dunn and Garrett Meigs, Oregon State University
Undergraduate Award – Penny Whisenant, Stephen, F. Austin State University

More information about the 2011 SAFE award winners can be found on the 2011 SAFE Award Winners page.

2009: 4th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress: Fire as a Global Process

Undergraduate Award - Sparkle Malone, University of Florida

2008: Fire in the Southwest: Integrating Fire into Management of Changing Ecosystems

Andrea Stebleton and Susie Douglas

2007: The ’88 Fires: Yellowstone and Beyond

Chris Powell and Josh Switzer

2006: 3rd International Fire Ecology and Management Congress: Changing Fire Regimes: Context and Consequences

Graduate Award - Jay Lininger, University of Montana

Undergraduate Award - Tyler Hawkins, Texas Tech University

2005: Fire in Grassland and Shrubland Ecosystems, An International Symposium, Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference

Graduate Award - Jennifer Potts, University of California Berkley

Undergraduate Award - Micah-John Beierle, Stephen F. Austin State University