Kyle Manley

My ongoing postdoctoral project investigates the complex interactions between wildfire, prescribed fire, and cultural ecosystem services in the US West. By focusing on how wildfire and fire management practices like prescribed burns directly and indirectly affect the non-material benefits we receive from nature-particularly recreation-I aim to fill critical gaps in our understanding of how these disturbances influence human well-being from an ecosystem service lens. This research evaluates both the impacts of wildfire and the efficacy of prescribed fire in mitigating wildfire risks to cultural ecosystem services, providing insights that are essential for more informed and equitable fire management practices. I am also part of a project aimed at filling knowledge gaps about the global wildland urban interface and wildfire using optical and thermal sensors, specifically looking at how the changing intensity of urbanization in the GWUI has changed fire behavior and the subsequent impacts to people.