We explore the underlying drivers of disturbance, natural hazards that ensue, and extreme events that have consequences to landscapes, ecosystems, and society.

Extreme droughts, fires, and floods are among the greatest geohazards the U.S. faces each year. Further, these events interact with each other, creating multiplier effects about which the scientific community knows very little. Evidence suggests that the frequency of extremes has increased over recent decades, particularly for climate extremes and large fires, making the ability to predict, and understanding the pattern of coupled extremes imperative. Earth observations from the past three decades now provide sufficient data across temporal and spatial scales to explore questions about how rare, extreme events interact. 

A better understanding of disturbance interactions and how they lead to extreme events will increase our capacity to predict and respond to these events, improving societal resilience and mitigating associated costs. 

Projects

Project Lead

Jennifer K. Balch

Earth Lab

(303)735-8447

Earth Lab takes a collaborative, big-data approach to answering some of our most pressing questions related to fire. We seek to understand what controls fire in the landscape, how fire is changing, and what this means for society.

Project Lead

Damage from natural hazards is increasing despite the growing ability of the geo-sciences to delineate where and when extreme events will occur. We show that decades of risky development has increased exposure to the most damaging natural hazards.

Project Lead

Environmentally, what is extreme? What can we do to mitigate their impacts? Our research aims to answer these questions and brings an interdisciplinary, big-data perspective to risk assessment.

Project Lead

Jennifer K. Balch

Earth Lab

(303)735-8447

This project will advance fundamental understanding of how aboveground biomass recovery trajectories vary as a function of fire size and severity, drought, and conifer forest type (1984-present) across the western U.S.

Project Lead

Jennifer K. Balch

Earth Lab

(303)735-8447

In the face of increasing frequency and severity of disturbances to western U.S. forests, this effort integrates data from individual trees to entire ecoregions to advance understanding of western forest recovery.

Project Lead

Michael Koontz

Vibrant Planet

The core activity of this project is to use such a finer-time-scale analysis to identify the fuels, weather, and/or firefighting resources conditions associated with rapid fire growth.

Project Lead

New research extending the utility of the PODs process before, during, and after a fire

Recent Work

Team Members