Rachel Smith (2010)
Fellowship Year: 2010
Academic Background: University of California - Berkeley - PhD 2012- (Environmental Science, Policy and Management)
Current Position: Ph.D. Candidate
Rachel Smith is a doctoral candidate at UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources in the Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management studying the role of collaborative planning in wildfire risk abatement. A firefighter from the age of 18, Rachel has fought wildfires throughout California and the American west, including time parachuting into remote fires as a U.S. Forest Service Smokejumper. Additionally, she has assisted suppression efforts abroad in countries ranging from Australia to South Africa to Guatemala.
As the threat of catastrophic wildfires has increased around the world, Rachel has become increasingly interested in innovative solutions to reduce wildfire costs and losses. She spent the last three years researching effective strategies to engage stakeholders in wildfire risk mitigation with the support of a graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Rachel is Founder and President of Firescaping.org, a nonprofit which provides accessible fire safety solutions for residents and community organizers in the wildland-urban interface.
Expertise: Natural Resource Management, Environmental Policy & Law, Environmental Education