Over the past twenty years, wildfires in the arctic have increased in size, frequency and severity as a result of climate change. To predict and manage wildfires, forest service agencies use susceptibility models, which examine topographical, climatic and spatial features to determine ignition likelihoods. This project will study the driving factors in recent Alaskan wildfires and explore how remotely sensed measurements of vegetation moisture can be incorporated into current susceptibility models.

Mentors: Dr. Laurence C. Smith; Jessica V. Fayne, PhD

Rebecca is a junior from Colorado concentrating in Applied Mathematics. Her academic interests include probability, statistics and environmental science, and she has enjoyed exploring history, architecture, and Spanish language courses through Brown’s open curriculum. She is an active member of the Brown Running Club and plays violin in the Brown University Orchestra and various chamber ensembles. She is looking forward to using the Royce Fellowship to explore the applications of machine learning to climate research and remote sensing.