WILDFIRE
John Daily, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Joint Center for Combustion and Environmental Research at CU-Boulder, can offer insight into wildfire behavior - how fires start and end, how they spread, and the effects of weather and fuel types. (303) 492-7110.
Bill Travis, associate professor of geography, is especially interested in projecting, tracking and assessing the implications of sprawl into rural and forest fringe areas. He is conversant on population growth in Colorado and can discuss how it relates to wildfires. (303) 492-6312.
Carl Bock, professor of biology, can comment on how wildfires and drought affect grasslands. Professor Bock will be in the field for much of the summer, but is reachable by e-mail at carl.bock@colorado.edu. (303) 492-7184.
DROUGHT
Martyn Clark, project leader of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences' western water assessment, can comment on the impact of drought from environmental, social, legal, hydrological and climate standpoints. Clark's research team is developing ways for people to cope with drought conditions. (303) 735-3624.
Klaus Wolter, climatologist and research associate with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, can provide a meteorological view of drought. For several years, Wolter has studied conditions in the southwestern United States, and each month posts a detailed seasonal forecast for the region on the Web at .
(303) 497-6340, or kew@cdc.noaa.gov.
Ken Strzepek (pronounced "stress-peck"), professor of civil and environmental engineering, is a noted expert on the application of advanced computer techniques for water and environmental management, public policy and decision making, and can offer economic analysis of water use. He has studied the agricultural, ecological and human impacts of water resources in a number of major river basins including the Colorado River and the Nile River in Egypt, and is a consultant and adviser to industry, water management organizations, consulting firms, UN agencies and U.S. and foreign governments.
Editors: Some of the experts listed in this release participated in a discussion of wildfire last year sponsored by CU's Center of the American West. The report, "Facing Fire: Lessons From the Ashes" is available by calling the center at (303) 492-4879.