NC CASC Webinar Series: Our Changing Fire Regimes Presented by: Jennifer Balch, NC CASC University Director, University of Colorado-Boulder  Register in advance for this meeting: https://cuboulder.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAsc-2qrTktGNfU0IFzgBhh-dLJwBzqlT47 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to join the meeting.   Abstract: There are three ingredients needed for fire: fuel to burn, hot & dry conditions, and an ignition source. People are changing all three. The number of wildfires and the area burned has increased over the past several decades, in western U.S. forests by 1500%. Last year was one of the most expensive wildfire seasons ever in the U.S., costing over $16B. We need to learn to live with fire, again. But how? Ultimately, we need to burn better and build better. About the Speaker: Dr. Jennifer Balch is University Director of the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center and Director of Earth Lab at the University of Colorado-Boulder. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography. Dr. Balch’s research aims to understand the patterns and processes that underlie disturbance and ecosystem recovery, particularly how people are shifting fire regimes and the consequences. Her work spans from temperate regions to the tropics exploring how the major ingredients to fire are changing: climate, fuels, and ignitions. She has conducted research in the field of fire ecology for nearly twenty years, and has lit a few experimental burns to understand the consequences of altered fire regimes.