In a pioneering step for both botanic gardens and wildfire science, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has appointed Kristina Fauss as its first fire scientist.
Fauss will investigate how native plants can help California communities create landscapes that reduce property loss from wildfire while conserving water and supporting biodiversity.
Members of the public can meet Fauss and learn what they can do to help protect their homes, landscapes and communities from wildfire during Talk With a Fire Scientist, 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 26.
The hybrid event will be offered in-person and online. Virtual attendance is free. In-person admission is $10 for Botanic Garden members and students with valid identification; $15 for non-members.
To register, visit sbbotanicgarden.org/classes-events/talk-with-a-fire-scientist.
Fauss’ research focuses on plant flammability, wildfire hazard, fire ecology, and community wildfire resilience.
At the Botanic Garden, her research will inform landscaping recommendations, conservation and restoration strategies, and educational programs.
She will collaborate across the garden’s departments and with nonprofit, academic, government and community partners to evaluate native plants for use throughout California’s fire-prone landscapes, organizers said.
“Kristina’s work represents an exciting new chapter for Santa Barbara Botanic Garden by expanding what we can contribute to one of California’s most urgent challenges,” said Steve Windhager, executive director of Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
“By bringing together plant science, fire research, and our knowledge of how to promote biodiversity she is building the approach we need to make our homes, landscapes, and communities more resilient, while building habitat for the native biodiversity that provides for critical services for people and makes California so extraordinary,” he said.
Fauss began her career in civil engineering, applying systems-engineering frameworks to the study of natural hazards and interactions between people and the environment. That work led her to UC Santa Barbara, where she focused on wildfire hazard and ecology, earning a doctorate in geography.
Her research interests include geospatial fire-hazard analysis, fire-movement modeling, and laboratory combustion testing.
Fauss’ first major initiative at the Botanic Garden is the opening of a laboratory combustion-testing program to identify low-flammability, waterwise native and non-native plants for defensible-space landscaping to measure how readily each plant ignites, how intensely it burns, and how long it sustains combustion.
The findings will help address gaps and inconsistencies in existing “firewise” plant lists and provide homeowners, landscape professionals, planners, and policymakers with more reliable, science-backed guidance, Botanic Garden officials said.
Her future work includes pursuing research that could broaden an understanding of how plants and landscapes influence wildfire behavior.
A collaboration with UC Santa Barbara’s Climate and Vegetation Change Lab and CAL FIRE is proposed to combine wind modeling with combustion testing to evaluate whether coastal live oaks can serve as barriers during wind-driven fires.
Fauss is also developing a science-based tool for evaluating the flammability of 50 waterwise plants to give city planners stronger evidence for plant-selection guidance.
As the first botanic garden in the nation to focus exclusively on native plants, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden this year celebrates 100 years of conservation leadership and work to better understand the relationship between plants and people.
Founded in 1926, the Botanic Garden has grown from 13 acres to 78 acres, featuring some six miles of walking trails, a library, a public native plant nursery, and a conservation center.
For more, visit SBBotanicGarden.org.