Randi Jandt will give a Science for Alaska lecture titled Will defrosting the “icebox” lead to more summer wildfires in Alaska? Jandt is an ecologist from the Alaska Fire Science Consortium, based at University of Alaska-Fairbanks’ International Arctic Research Center.  She has a MS in Wildlife Management from UAF and 30 yrs field experience in Alaska as a fire ecologist, wildlife biologist and sometimes firefighter. In her current part-time posting with UAF she works with research groups from all over the country & fire management agencies in Alaska to facilitate “fire science we can use”.  Current areas of research involve the effectiveness of fire fuels breaks in boreal forest and how climate warming is changing fire regime, tundra, and forests in northern latitudes.

About Science for Alaska- For over 25 years, the UAF Geophysical Institute Science for Alaska lecture series has brought current scientific research to communities throughout the state. Administrators, faculty, staff and the public weigh-in on possibilities for speakers and topics to be included in the popular lecture series. The result is a well-rounded event that pools expertise from scientists studying in various locales in Alaska, on topics as diverse as alternative energy to walruses.