ADVANCED NATIONAL FIRE DANGER RATING SYSTEM

**February 17-27, 2009**

## Tucson, Arizona

**[AUTOBIOGRAPHIES]{.underline}**

**[LARRY S. BRADSHAW]{.underline}** - Meteorologist, US Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula,
Montana.

> Larry has been the meteorologist for the Fire Behavior Research Work
> Unit since June 1992. Prior to that Larry was with Systems for
> Environmental Management (SEM) where he was principal investigator of
> more than 15 research agreements with the USDA Forest Service. Larry
> earned a B.S. in Meteorology from the University of Utah in 1975 and
> has specialized in the development and application of climatology to
> fire management problems. Past projects include developing the FIRES
> program, design and implementation of the Wildland Fire Assessment
> System (WFAS-MAPS) web site on the USDA Forest Service Home Page, and
> co-author of the research paper on the Fire Behavior Associated with
> the 1994 South Canyon Fire.
>
> His current work includes project management of FireFamily Plus and
> WFAS, implementation of Nelson's dead fuel moisture model into
> operational fire weather systems, and integration of grid-based
> forecast products into next generation fire danger/fire behavior
> systems. He currently serves as the chairperson of the Fire Danger
> Committee of the National Wildfire Coordinating Groups\' new Fire
> Environment Working Team (FENWT).

**[TIMOTHY J. BROWN]{.underline}** - Research Professor, Desert Research
Institute, Reno, Nevada.

> Dr. Brown conducts research in applied climatology and meteorology
> with emphasis on the application of data analysis and statistical
> methods to atmospheric science data. His current primary research
> interests are the analysis of fire-climate and fire-weather
> relationships, and computer intensive statistics and visualization
> applications.
>
> Dr. Brown is the director of the Program for Climate, Ecosystem and
> Fire Applications (CEFA) at the Desert Research Institute. He holds a
> graduate faculty position in the Atmospheric Science Program at the
> University of Nevada, Reno.
>
> Dr. Brown's academic background includes a Ph.D. and M.S. in
> climatology from the University of Colorado, and a B.S. in astronomy
> and physics from the University of Illinois (Sangamon State Campus).

**[DAVID R. CHRISTENSON]{.underline}** - Fire Control Dispatcher,
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Woodruff, Wisconsin.

Dave has worked for WDNR in fire control for 25 years. He started as a
Tractor Plow Operator and promoted to initial attack dispatcher in 1976.
Dave has been involved with fire weather programs and systems since 1976
and actively involved for the past 11 years. He is currently the
technical specialist for all WNDR and USDA Forest Service fire weather
users in Wisconsin.

> Dave has a B.S. degree in Scientific Land Management in 1975 from the
> University of Wisconsin, River Falls, Wisconsin.

**[STEPHANEY CHURCH]{.underline}** - Center Manager, Boise Dispatch
Center, Boise, Idaho.

> Stephaney has been involved in Wildland Fire since 1989. She worked
> for the USFS and NPS from 1989-1997 spending time as a firefighter,
> prevention technician and initial attack dispatcher seasonally while
> attending college. In 1998 she became a permanent employee of the
> Grand Canyon National Park as the Assistant Manager of the Fire
> Dispatch Office. She transferred to Phoenix BLM as a Fire and Law
> Enforcement Dispatcher in 2000 and after enduring extreme heat for a
> year she transferred to the Uinta National Forest to be the Center
> Manager of the Northern Utah Interagency Fire Center. In 2006 she
> moved to Boise where she is currently the Center Manager.
>
> Stephaney became interested in NFDRS in 1994 when she worked as the
> intelligence dispatcher for the Grand Canyon Zone dispatch office. She
> coached at the Advanced NFDRS course in 2008.
>
> Stephaney graduated from Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff,
> Arizona) in 1995 with a B.S. in Forestry and again in 2000 with a M.S.
> in Forest Ecology.

**[CLINT CROSS]{.underline}** - Regional Fuels Specialist, US Forest
Service, Southern Region, Atlanta, Georgia.

> Clint spent two seasons doing consulting forestry work while attending
> forestry school at the University of Tennessee. Following graduation
> he worked two years as a Staff Forester doing management plans, forest
> pest control work and fire suppression with the Texas Forest Service,
> in Lampasas, Texas from 1993 to 1995. From 1996 to 1999, he moved to a
> Staff Forester II/Regional Fire Coordinator position with the Texas
> Forest Service continuing to do forest management work while
> administering rural fire defense programs and coordinating fire
> response in the Central region of the state. In 2000 and 2001 he
> worked as a Fire Behavior Analyst with the Texas Forest Service.
> Responsibilities included writing fire danger operating plans,
> assessments, RAWS networks, and fire response coordination. Clint
> transferred to the regional office for the National Park Service in
> Atlanta to work as a Fuels Specialist in 2001. Primary
> responsibilities include oversight of the regional fuels program and
> coordinating the implementation of the National Fire Plan with
> federal, state, and local governments. In May of 2005, Clint
> transferred to the Southern Region of the USFS as the Regional Fuels
> Specialist. Clint serves as the Chair of the Southern Area Fire
> Environment Working team, member of the WIMS Re-engineering Task
> Group, FS Southern representative on the NWCG Fire Behavior Committee,
> faculty member for S-590 and Chair-elect on the Steering Committee for
> the Advanced NFDRS course at NARTC.
>
> Clint received his B.S. in Forest Resource Management from the
> University of Tennessee in 1992.

**[GARY M. CURCIO]{.underline}** - Fire Environmental Staff Specialist,
North Carolina Division of Forest Resources, Ralph Winkworth Training
Facility, Kinston, North Carolina.

> Gary has been employed by the North Carolina Division of Forest
> Resources for the past 30 years. Initially he began his career as a
> Service Forester. He was later promoted to Assistant District Forester
> and then District Forester before transitioning to fire research and
> the fire environment. For the last sixteen years his work has
> concentrated in the area of wildland fire environment and special
> projects and the preparation of corresponding staff reports. Before
> concentrating on Fire Environment, he was a member of the Interagency
> Air tanker Board as well as efforts on the Single Engine Air tanker
> and the Amphibious Air tanker Task Groups.
>
> Gary is currently responsible for the oversight and guidance of the
> Division of Forest Resources Fire Environment Branch. This fire danger
> program includes the application and use of the National Fire Danger
> Rating System, the Weather Information Management System and the
> continued expansion of the Division's Remote Automated Weather Station
> (RAWS) Network. This network is under constant development and
> includes the effort to bring together wildland Interagency RAWS. He
> currently serves as a Division of Forest Resources Fire Behavior
> Analyst on Project Fire Teams, and is the State's Area Representative
> on the NWCG Fire Danger Committee and the Fire Air Coordination Team.
> He is the current Chair of the Division of Forest Resources Fire
> Environment Working Group and Strategic Partners. His time is
> presently devoted to the development and improvement of the Fire
> Danger Program, Fire Intel web site, Smoke Management Program, and the
> ground work and testing to equip the Division's Single Engine Air
> tanker Fleet with fire gates.
>
> Gary has earned a B.S. Degree Independent Study from Albright College,
> Reading, PA, and a M.F. Degree in Forest Pathology from Duke
> University, Durham, NC.

**[ED DELGADO]{.underline}** - *[Autobiography information needed from
instructor]{.mark}*

**[BRIAN GOFF]{.underline}** - Deputy Fire Staff, US Forest Service,
Umatilla National Forest, Pendleton, Oregon.

> Brian began his career in forestry/firefighting as crewboss of an
> Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) coop/fire crew in 1985.
> Smokejumped the next three seasons with USFS North Cascades
> Smokejumper Base, Washington, while attending college. A permanent
> position with ODF began in 1989 as a Wildlife Forester/Engine Boss,
> then Timber Management Forester on the coast, and a Forest Practices
> Forester position in Klamath Falls 1992-2004. Project work 1995-2004
> accumulated to approximately five years working in training,
> developing, and promoting fire behavior, fire danger, and fire
> planning tools to improve fire management decisions, which led to
> development of the South Central Oregon Interagency Fire Danger
> Operating Plan (completed June, 2003). Brian continued his interest in
> forestry/firefighting, but with a different agency, in July, 2004. His
> current position includes Forest responsibilities for the fuels
> program, fire planning, and fire danger.
>
> Brian has a B.S. degree in Forest Management from Oregon State
> University.

**[Tess Greaves]{.underline}** - Forestry Specialist, Vermont Department
of Forests, Parks and Recreation, Forestry Division, Morrisville,
Vermont.

> Tess has worked for the Forest Protection section since joining the
> department in 1996. She took over the fire weather/fire danger
> reporting duties for both the State of Vermont and the Green Mountain
> National Forest at that time. Having had no experience in analyzing,
> calculating, or reporting fire danger rating prior to 1996, Tess had
> to learn the complexities of the National Fire Danger Rating System.
> She completed the series of training courses and has been able to
> improve Vermont's RAWS/NFDRS programs with these new skills. Tess is
> Vermont's representative on the Northeast Compact's Fire Weather/Fire
> Danger Working Team. She has been a member of the national NFDRS
> training cadre since 2003.
>
> She received an A.A.S. in Communications from Community College of
> Vermont in June, 2003.

**[RUSS GRIPP]{.underline}** - Fire Management Specialist, US Forest
Service, Region 5, Northern Province (Klamath NF, Mendocino NF,
Shasta-Trinity NF, Six Rivers NF), Klamath National Forest, Yreka,
California.

> Russ was recruited by the NFDRS Steering Committee in 1990 and given
> the task of developing a process to organize and implement the various
> parts and pieces necessary for the application and use of fire danger
> rating at the field level. He has continued to lead the refinement and
> enhancement effort of the process as it has evolved into the Fire
> Danger Rating Operating Plan exercise.
>
> One of the focus areas in Russ's current program of work is technical
> leadership and support in the application and use of the National Fire
> Danger Rating System on four National Forests in northern California.
> In addition to his direct support activities at the Forest and
> Province level, he provides NFDRS expertise at the regional and
> national levels. He is also involved in numerous danger rating related
> projects at the regional and nation levels.
>
> The development of Russ's skill and knowledge in fire weather and fire
> danger rating began early in his career on the Mendocino NF, where he
> took weather observations used for danger rating purposes, maintained
> the weather records, and maintained weather stations used for danger
> rating. While on the Six Rivers NF, he spent time in dispatch where he
> collected the afternoon fire weather observations from the field by
> phone and radio and entered the data into a new computer system called
> AFFIRMS, and reported the danger rating outputs to the field. Later,
> as a Fuel Specialist on the Idaho Panhandle NF's, he utilized historic
> fire weather observations, NFDRS outputs, and the various analysis
> tools that were available at the time, in the development of
> prescribed burning prescriptions. During his tenure as the Assistant
> Fire Staff on the Siskiyou NF, he used NFDRS outputs to aid in a
> number of daily fire management decision processes and incorporated
> fire danger climatology into the local fire planning processes. He
> worked very closely with John Deeming in the development and
> installation of a RAWS network on the Siskiyou NF and served as the
> Regional RAWS DCP Coordinator in Region 6 for a number of years. As
> the ECC Manager on the Sequoia NF, he oversaw the daily operation of
> the NFDRS processes at the Forest level and began installation of a
> RAWS network on the Forest.
>
> Russ has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Management
> (1969) and a Master of Science Degree in Natural Resources (1976) from
> Humboldt State University. His graduate study emphasis was wildland
> fire management. His thesis studied large fire occurrences, NFDRS
> indices and components and the relationship to synoptic weather
> patterns in northwestern California. He was trained as a
> Meteorological Observer (93E) while on active duty with the U.S. Army.
>
> In addition to his "day job", Russ is a member of California
> Interagency Incident Management Team #1, where he has served as the
> Air Tactical Group Supervisor since 1996. He also participates in the
> air attack program in northern California on a weekly basis. He is
> presently in the process of being recertified as a Planning Section
> Chief 2 (PSC2) and Fire Behavior Analyst (FBAN). He is also working on
> his Long-Term Analyst (LTAN) qualifications.

**[HEATH HOCKENBERRY]{.underline}** - *([Autobiography information
needed from instructor]{.mark})*

**[MATT JOLLY]{.underline}** - *([Autobiography information needed from
instructor]{.mark})*

**[LINNEA KEATING]{.underline}** - Assistant RAWS Coordinator, US Forest
Service, Fire and Aviation Management, NIFC, Orofino, ID

> Linnea began her government career in 1979 while working for the Young
> Adult Conservation Corps. This showed her the many career
> opportunities in the Forest Service. She started working in the
> Heritage Resource Program in 1980. Other job opportunities have been
> taken since then, including engineering technician, planning clerk,
> forestry technician, and fire dispatch. Linnea's current position is
> with the Forest Service's Fire and Aviation Program as Assistant RAWS
> (Remote Automated Weather Station) Coordinator.

**[TOBIN KELLEY]{.underline}** - District Assistant Fire Management
Officer, US Forest Service, Bitterroot National Forest, Stevensville
Ranger District, Stevensville, Montana.

> Tobin has worked in fire/forest and land management and research since
> 1979. This includes positions in Region 4 (Manti-LaSal and Boise
> National Forests) Region 1 (Bitterroot National Forest), positions at
> the Intermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory and at the Aldo Leopold
> Wilderness Research Institute. The last year was spent on a detail at
> the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab helping to develop training modules for
> BehavePlus and Fire Family Plus and the S-495 Fire Behavior course.
>
> Tobin participates in other fire courses (S-491, S-490, Managing
> Wildland Fire for Resource Benefits) at the Northern Rockies Training
> Center.

**[KIM KELLY]{.underline}** - *([Autobiography information needed from
instructor]{.mark})*

**[JEFF KLINE]{.underline}** - Fire Management Officer, DOI Bureau of
Land Management, Salt Lake Field Office, Salt Lake City, Utah.

> Jeff has been involved in wildland fire management since 1981. He has
> worked for several BLM and Forest Service units in Utah and Idaho as a
> seasonal employee from 1981 to 1990. He was a Fire Station Manager for
> five years (1991-1995) and an Assistant Fire Management Officer for
> five years (1996-2000) at the BLM Salt Lake Field Office. Jeff has
> been the Fire Management Officer for the BLM Salt Lake Field Office
> since 2000. He is a member of the National Fire Danger Rating System
> (NFDRS) Steering Committee since 2002. In addition, Jeff has worked
> with regional and national Incident Management Teams as a Fire
> Behavior Analyst and Air Tactical Group Supervisor. He is currently
> assigned to Brunner's Great Basin Type-2 IMT as ATGS.
>
> Jeff graduated from Utah State University (Logan, Utah) in 1985 with a
> B.S. in Forestry and minors in Computer Science, Biology, and Applied
> Statistics.

**[KATY MADRID-HIPKE]{.underline}** - *[(Autobiography information
needed from instructor]{.mark})*

**[CHUCK MAXWELL]{.underline}** - *([Autobiography information needed
from instructor]{.mark})*

**[ALLISON MEAD]{.underline}** - *([Autobiography information needed
from instructor)]{.mark}*

**[Shari Miller Kastenholz]{.underline}** - Sub-Regional Fire Planner,
Okanogan & Wenatchee National

Forest, Wenatchee, Washington.

> Shari began her career with the Forest Service as a Forestry Aid on
> the Beaverhead National Forest (NF). She returned to the Forest
> Service on the Nicolet NF as a Forestry Co-op and worked on the
> Florence District as a Forester Trainee. In 1987, she transferred to
> the Nicolet S.O. to become a Lands Appraiser/Forest Dispatcher. Shari
> became involved with NFDRS as the Forest Dispatcher, inputting daily
> weather observations and obtaining indices. In 1990, she attended a
> Region 9 NFDRS course to increase her understanding of the inputs and
> outputs. In 1993, she began working full-time in fire management as an
> Assistant Fire Management Officer for the Chequamegon-Nicolet National
> Forests and became involved in weather station set-up and maintenance
> with implementation of an automated weather station system on the
> Forests. She attended the National NFDRS course in 1995. In 1997,
> Shari transferred to Region 6 as a Sub-Regional fire planner assigned
> to the Wenatchee NF to provide support to eastern Washington and
> northeastern Oregon Forests, as well as program management support to
> the Wenatchee. She was an instructor at the Region 6 NFDRS course in
> 2001-03 & 2005-08 and Region 8 course in the fall of 2002, and uses
> FireFamily Plus on the Forests for fire planning and to analyze fire
> season weather trends. Most recently, Shari was a coach at the
> national Advanced NFDRS course in February 2008.

**[PAULA A. NASIATKA]{.underline}** - Center Manager, DOI National Park
Service, Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center, National Advanced Fire
and Resource Institute, Tucson, Arizona.

> In her 26 years with the National Park Service, Paula has 20 years
> experience in wildland fire and emergency management. She began her
> NPS seasonal career at Wupatki-Sunset Crater National Monuments in
> 1980 followed by seasons at Salem Maritime National Historic Site,
> Boston National Historical Park and Lehman Caves National Monument.
> Her first permanent position was with the Army Corps of Engineers as a
> Park Technician in Lewisville, TX from 1982-1983. From 1983-1987 she
> was an Assistant District Ranger at Santa Monica Mountains National
> Recreation Area in Southern California. From 1987 - 1989 she was a
> Supervisory Park Ranger at Grand Canyon National Park. From 1990 -2001
> Paula served as a District Ranger, Chief Ranger, and acting
> Superintendent at Saguaro National Park in Tucson.
>
> Paula served for nine years on Type 1 and Type 2 incident management
> teams in California and Arizona in the Planning Section. In January
> 2002, she began managing the new Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center.
> She instructs at numerous wildland fire courses and is the
> writer/editor of the *Scratchline* and *Learning Curve* newsletters.
> She received her B.S. in Park Administration from Springfield College
> in Massachusetts in 1981 and has done college continuing education
> from 1984-2000.

**[PATRICK NICHOLS]{.underline}** - *([Autobiography information needed
from instructor]{.mark})*

**[KAI OLSEN]{.underline}** - Center Manager, Central Nevada Interagency
Dispatch Center, Winnemucca, NV

> Kai began working in Fire Management in 1992 in Northern Arizona on
> the North Kaibab Ranger District. He worked on engines, crews,
> helicopters, and tanker bases, and was also responsible for the
> maintenance of the districts RAWS. In 2002, Kai moved to Idaho Falls
> to work as the Caribou-Targhee NF's Lead Dispatcher. A year later he
> accepted the Assistant Center Manager -- Intelligence position at the
> Eastern Idaho Interagency Fire Center. After 4 years in Idaho, Kai
> began his newest challenge as Center Manager of Central Nevada
> Interagency Dispatch Center, in Winnemucca, Nevada in 2006. He is
> currently working on a new Fire Danger Operating Plan for the BLM and
> USFS in Central Nevada. Kai is the Lead Instructor for the Great
> Basin\'s S-491 course. He is a member of the National Fire Danger
> Rating System (NFDRS) Steering Committee.
>
> Kai also enjoys winter details to Washington, DC where he works as a
> Logistics Specialist for the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance,
> USAID in cooperation with the Disaster Assistance Support Program,
> USFS.
>
> Kai graduated from Southern Utah University in 1996 with a B.A. in
> Biology and Spanish.

**[DAN OLSEN]{.underline}** - Assistant Director, Fire Planning, US
Forest Service, Region 8, Fire and Aviation, Atlanta, Georgia.

Dan's Forest Service career began at the Savannah River Forest Station
in 1982. He worked in Timber Management with duties in fire suppression
and presuppression including Rx Fire Burn Boss and Planner. In 1989, he
became the AFMO with duties of Fire Planning and Suppression. From 1995
to 1999, he was the Fire Management Officer for the Daniel Boone
National Forest. In 1999, he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin as Fire
Operations Manager for Region 9 of the USDA Forest Service. Dan recently
moved to his current position as Assistant Director of Fire and Aviation
for Fire Planning in Atlanta, Georgia.

> Dan attended the State University of New York from 1978 to 1980 and
> graduated with an Associate degree in Natural Resources.

**[DENNIS PERILLI]{.underline}** - *[(Autobiography information needed
from instructor]{.mark})*

**[SUE PETERSEN]{.underline}** - Computer Specialist, US Forest Service,
WO Fire and Aviation Management, National Interagency Fire Center,
Boise, Idaho.

> Sue started with the Forest Service in 1980, working in the Pacific
> Northwest until September 1995. At that time she became a member of
> the National Fire Application Support Desk.
>
> NFDRS (National Fire Danger Rating) and WIMS (Weather Information
> Management System) soon became a focus for Sue. She is now a member of
> the NFDRS Steering Committee, S-491 Intermediate National Fire Danger
> Rating Development group, and the WIMS and KCFast reengineering
> effort. She also serves as project manager for on going software
> development projects in Fire and Aviation as well as training
> development and instructing.
>
> Sue has a degree in nursing and is currently working on her degree in
> business management. These days her favorite topics include her
> granddaughters, Ali and Shyanne.

**[DEB ROY]{.underline}** - Fire Staff Officer, US Forest Service, Mt.
Hood and Gifford Pinchot National Forests, Sandy, OR

> Deb began her firefighting career in 1980 with the Oregon Department
> of Forestry while attending Oregon State University. Her Forest
> Service career began in 1983 at Rager Ranger Station on the Ochoco
> National Forest where she worked as an Engine Foreman and Fuels
> Technician for 5 seasons. She received a permanent appointment in 1988
> as a Suppression Technician and in 1989 moved into a Forester
> position. At which time she managed the District recreation and fuels
> programs for 3 years and then the fuels and suppression programs for 4
> years before moving in 1996 to the Heppner Ranger District on the
> Umatilla National Forest as the District Fire Management Officer. In
> 2002 she went to the Mt. Hood National Forest as the Assistant Fire
> Staff Officer. In 2006 accepted the shared Fire Staff Officer Position
> for the Mt. Hood and Gifford Pinchot National Forests.

Deb has a B.S. degree in Forest Management from Oregon State University.

**[BRYAN SCHIEBER]{.underline}** - Battalion Chief, California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Northern Region Operational
Coordination Center, Redding, CA

> Bryan began his career with CAL FIRE in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit in
> 1983 as a firefighter. In 1986, Bryan promoted to a Fire Apparatus
> Engineer in the San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit. In 1990, Bryan promoted to
> LT Fire Captain in Humboldt-Del Norte followed by 3 years at Bieber
> Helitack in Lassen-Modoc Unit, then to a permanent Fire Captain
> assignment at the Emergency Command Center in San Mateo-Santa Cruz. In
> 2003, he was promoted to Battalion Chief at the Northern Region
> Operational Coordination Center. His duties include the coordination
> of the CAL FIRE Northern Region Fire Weather Program, NFDRS (S-491)
> instruction and WIMS instruction.
>
> Bryan received a Bachelor's Degree in Forest Management-Production
> from Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA in 1983.

**[PAUL M SCHLOBOHM]{.underline}** - Smoke Management Specialist, Fire
Planning and Fuels Management, Fire and Aviation Directorate, Bureau of
Land Management, Boise, Idaho.

> Paul began working in forestry and fire in 1984 at the Salem, Oregon,
> BLM District Office. In 1989 he moved to the National Interagency Fire
> Center in Boise, Idaho, with BLM's Class A foam suppressants project.
> Since 1996 he has been the BLM fire danger program leader. In 2000 he
> began managing a partnership with the Desert Research Institute to
> apply climatology to fire management. He has led the BLM national
> smoke management since 2003.
>
> Paul Schlobohm received a Bachelor's degree in Forestry from the
> University of California, Berkeley, in 1983 and a Master's degree in
> Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences from the University of
> Nevada, Reno in 2003.

**[SHELBY SHARPLES]{.underline}** - *[(Autobiography information needed
from instructor)]{.mark}*

**[JOHN R. SWANSON]{.underline}** - [Needs
Revision....xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]{.mark}

> John worked nearly three years in Chile, South America, assisting in
> the development
>
> of a full-range fire management program as a Peace Corps Volunteer in
> the early
>
> seventies. Since 1974, he has enjoyed working on five national forests
> in Oregon,
>
> California and Nevada, serving as a hotshot crewmember, district fuels
>
> management specialist, timber sale preparation forester, fire
> management planner,
>
> District Fire Management Officer, and Forest Fire and Vegetation
> Management
>
> Officer. He has been in his current position since 1998.
>
> John has served as Planning Section Chief, Deputy Incident Commander
> and Incident
>
> Commander on Type 2 Interagency Incident Command Teams since 1988.
> From 1994
>
> through 2000, he served as Planning Section Chief on a California Type
> 1 Incident Management Team. Since then he has served periodically as
> Planning Section Chief with other Type 1 Incident Management Teams.
>
> Numerous assignments to Europe, Central and South America, and
> Australia, to
>
> provide consultant services, fire management instruction and technical
> assistance on
>
> large wildfires have added interest to John\'s career.
>
> John has a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry from the University
> of Minnesota
>
> \(1969\) and a Master of Science degree in forest fire science and
> technology from the
>
> University of Washington (1974).

**[ANDREW THOMPSON]{.underline}** - *[(Autobiography information not
available]{.mark})*

**[JESSICA WADE]{.underline}** - Regional Fire Management Specialist, US
Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 8 (California & Nevada), Sacramento,
CA

> Jessica started her fire career working as an Engine Crew Member for
> the Vernal District BLM in Vernal, Utah in 1992. She continued working
> for the Vernal District through 1997 as an Engine Operator and then as
> an Engine Captain while attending college. During the winters from
> 1997 to 1999, Jessica worked in the Utah BLM State Office as a Fire
> GIS Technician primarily developing the base layers for Fire Dispatch
> Offices. During the summer of 1998, she detailed onto the Midnight Sun
> Hotshot Crew, Fairbanks, Alaska, and in 1999 she worked as an Engine
> Module Leader for the Salt Lake District BLM Field Office. In 1999,
> Jessica pursued opportunities in fuels management by transferring to a
> fuels technician position in Cottonwood, Idaho working for the Upper
> Columbia, Salmon, and Clearwater BLM District for a year. In 2000, she
> transferred to the Arizona Strip Field Office BLM as the Field Office
> Fuels Specialist, and then in 2002 transferred to the USFS as the
> Forest Fuels Officer for the Humboldt-Toiyabe NF in Sparks, NV. Both
> of these fuels specialist positions required active involvement with
> the update and implementation of the local NFDRS plans. Jessica is
> currently a member of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 8 Fire
> Management staff. She has been with the FWS since July 2005.
>
> Jessica received her B.S. Degree in Geography from the University of
> Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah) in 1997.

**[JON WALLACE]{.underline}** - *([Autobiography information not
available]{.mark})*

**[Chris Waters]{.underline}** - *([Autobiography information not
available)]{.mark}*

**[TOM WORDELL]{.underline}** - Wildland Fire Analyst, US Forest
Service, Predictive Services Section, National Interagency Coordination
Center, Boise, Idaho.

> Tom has worked 28 years in fire management on the Olympic, Bitterroot,
> Winema, Mt. Hood, Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla National Forests and at
> the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho. During
> his career, Tom has worked as BD Crewperson, Prevention Technician,
> Engine Foreman, Hotshot Crew Superintendent, Fuels Specialist,
> District Fire Management Officer, Technology Transfer Specialist, and
> Wildland Fire Analyst. Tom worked as an Operations Section Chief on
> the Blue Mountain Type II Incident Management Team for several years
> and as a team member on several fire assessment and Wildland Fire Use
> assignments, including one to the Superior National Forest in
> Minnesota where he used RERAP to help determine the changed condition
> risk on over 400,000 acres of blowdown in the Boundary Water Canoe
> Area Wilderness. He was the coordinator for an international forestry
> project in Ghana, Africa funded under the International Tropical
> Timber Organization aimed at developing a collaborative fire
> management program to help prevent further fire damage to their
> transitional forest reserves. Tom currently works with the Predictive
> Service Unit at NICC analyzing data to help determine emerging areas
> of high fire potential, briefing fire directors and writing
> assessments to assist with resource allocation decisions.
>
> Tom obtained an undergraduate degree in education from Eastern Oregon
> State College in 1986. From 1992 through 1994 he worked under an MOU
> with the PNW Regional Office as an assistant to the regional fuels
> specialist. In 1995 he earned a Master\'s degree in forestry with
> emphasis in fire science from the University of Montana.