July 20, 2020

UArizona to Offer Live Webinar Series on Bighorn Fire Aug. 5, 12 and 19

TUCSON, Ariz. — As the Bighorn Fire smolders to a conclusion and with over 120,000 acres of the Santa Catalina Mountains burned, many questions and concerns remain: Why did this fire get so large? What was the role of climate change and drought? How was wildlife impacted? What will the mountains look like in the future?

A three-part public webinar series by the Arizona Institutes for Resilience at the University of Arizona will connect local, governmental and UArizona experts to address these questions and more through live interactions. The series is called "Fire on the Mountain: Understanding Tucson's Bighorn Fire."

"The Bighorn Fire was a watershed event that will shape our mountains for decades to come," said Jim Buizer, a professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment and director of the Arizona Institutes for Resilience. "We all have many questions about the effects of the fire and what the future looks like. At the same time, we have a remarkable community of specialists whose whole careers are focused on addressing these questions. This public series is all about sharing what we know and connecting this science to our city."

In partnership with Arizona Public Media and moderated by Tom McNamara and Vanessa Barchfield, the live series will begin Aug. 5 and air for three consecutive Wednesday evenings on Zoom. Episodes will explore the context and details of the more-than-monthlong fire, what we can expect in the immediate aftermath and the future of the Catalinas.

"We all watched in shock this June as the Bighorn Fire consumed the Catalinas day after day. I know I have a ton of questions and concerns," said Ben Wilder, lead producer of the series and director of the Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill. "It is vital that science be relevant to our community. This series will provide timely information in an engaging way that should allow each of us to begin to get our head around what we witnessed."

The series is free, but registration is required. Visit https://environment.arizona.edu/fire-on-the-mountain to register for any or all of the three livestreams. Episodes will be recorded and made available on the above website for on-demand viewing.

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Media contacts:
Ben Wilder
Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill
520-621-6949 (office) | 520-971-2486 (cell)
bwilder@email.arizona.edu

Maya Patterson
Arizona Institutes for Resilience: Solutions for the Environment and Society
520-626-9987 (office) | 602-448-9170 (cell)
mayapatterson@arizona.edu

The University of Arizona, a land-grant university with two independently accredited medical schools, is one of the nation's top public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report. Established in 1885, the university is widely recognized as a student-centric university and has been designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. The university ranked in the top 20 in 2018 in research expenditures among all public universities, according to the National Science Foundation, and is a leading Research 1 institution with $687 million in annual research expenditures. The university advances the frontiers of interdisciplinary scholarship and entrepreneurial partnerships as a member of the Association of American Universities, the 65 leading public and private research universities in the U.S. It benefits the state with an estimated economic impact of $4.1 billion annually. For the latest on the University of Arizona response to the novel coronavirus, visit the university's COVID-19 webpage.