Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Outreach and Education
The Fire Ecology Program is closely affiliated with Universities through adjunct faculty appointments and research collaborations. Dr. Robertson advises graduate students and mentors undergraduate interns, providing students the opportunity to conduct fire-related research on Tall Timbers and associated properties under his advisorship.
Adjunct Faculty Appointments:
- University of Florida Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- University of Florida School of Forest Resources and Conservation
- Louisiana State University Department of Biological Sciences
- Auburn University Department of Agronomy and Soils
- Florida State University Department of Biological Sciences
- Florida A&M University Center for Water and Air Quality
Kevin Robertson speaking to visitors |
Requests for Information - The Fire Ecology Program provides information to the public on request regarding prescribed burning and related research and land management topics. Those with a Tall Timbers membership may request site visits for land management advice.
Tall Timbers special events - The Fire Ecology Program participates in several public outreach activities, including Tall Timbers Open House,Fall Field Day, Leadership Tallahassee, and Leadership Georgia.
Media - The Fire Ecology Program receives regular requests for interviews from newspaper, television, and radio media outlets on topics relating to prescribed fire and wildfire. Fire Ecologist Kevin Robertson has been featured on NPR, Fox News, and various documentaries, education videos, and outdoors channels.
Federal Government Partnerships - The Fire Ecology Program is a key member in the Southeastern Fire Ecology Partnership (SEFEP) stationed at Tall Timbers. SEFEP provides an interface between Tall Timbers, the Nature Conservancy, and fire ecologists from the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. National Parks Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Through SEFEP, Fire Ecologist Kevin Robertson collaborates with federal agencies on grants and research, provides fire ecology training through the National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center (PFTC) and National Wildland Fire Training courses, assists in organizing the International Fire Congresses, and has participated in the LANDFIRE [http://www.landfire.gov/] effort to map ecosystems and their fire regime condition class.
Boards and Committees - Fire Ecologist Kevin Robertson has served on steering committees for several scientific conferences, including serving as Chair of the Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference. He has served on the Florida Governor's Climate Change Action Team Technical Working Group on Agriculture, Forestry, and Waste Management and the North American Carbon Program Carbon Cycle Working Group. He is a Steering Committee Member of the Southern Fire Exchange consortium and is on the Executive Board of the Southeast Section of the Association for Fire Ecology.
Prescribed Fire Councils - Fire Ecologist Kevin Robertson assist with leadership of the North Florida Prescribed Fire Council and Georgia Prescribed Fire Council, which belong to the Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils. These Councils, composed of both private citizens and government employees, play a key role in advocating prescribed burning as a safe and effective way of applying a natural process for maintaining natural ecosystem processes and reducing wildfire risk.
Government Policy - The Fire Ecology Program remains engaged with agencies that may influence the ability to use prescribed fire as a management tool. Fire Ecologist Kevin Robertson participates in task groups to update prescribed burning rules and laws, provides white papers, editorials, and presentations at public hearings regarding prescribed fire and air quality, has addressed the Florida Governor's cabinet regarding prescribed fire and carbon emissions, and participates in various workshops charting the future of prescribed fire in the southern U.S.
 R.K. Godfrey Herbarium at Tall Timbers Research Station. Photo by Kevin Robertson |
Fire Ecologist Kevin Robertson is curator of the Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium. Dr. Robertson along with Dr. Gil Nelson and Dr. Austin Mast of Florida State University recently was awarded a National Science Foundation Grant to provide high resolution images of all the herbarium's specimens through the website of the Florida State University Herbarium, which was also largely collected by Dr. Robert Godfrey and similarly bears his name. Completion of this project is scheduled for the end of the year 2011.
References:
Picotte, J. and K.M. Robertson. Validation of National Burn Severity Mapping techniques within the Apalachicola National Forest. [Presentation in PDF format].
Picotte, J.J. and K.M. Robertson. 2009. Remote sensing of wildland fire burned area in southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain habitats. 2009. Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference Proceedings 24 In Press.
Picotte, J.J. and K.M. Robertson. 2009. Validation of remote sensing of burn severity in southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain community types. International Journal of Wildland Fire In Press.
Tall Timbers Research Notes and E-News Articles: