Our Annual Meeting was held once again in the Skyline Room on the second floor of the Claremont Hotel. Members, colleagues and friends attended with masks and proof of vaccination for COVID-19.
After light refreshments and brief updates from the Conservancy board, we heard from our invited speaker, Keith Gilless, Dean Emeritus of the Rausser College of Natural Resources who spoke on “Wildfire in the Wildland-Urban Interface.” Professor Gilless addressed the current and likely future of the wildland-urban interface as we face the challenges of a changing climate. What is the best path forward for researchers, policymakers, firefighters, and residents?
Dr. Gilless, after serving as a forester, earned his PhD at the University of Wisconsin and joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley in 1983. He served as professor of forest economics, department chair, and dean of the Rausser College of Natural Resources until he became an Emeritus Professor and Emeritus Dean in 2020.
Professor Gilless was a regular at Forestry Field Camp in the Sierras and earned awards from his colleagues for teaching, advising, and faculty service. His campus leadership as an advocate for students, faculty, and sensible governance was informed by his personal trajectory navigating both natural and political environments. As he was increasing student research opportunities, he served on policy boards at every level, notably the US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Research Advisory Council and the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, which he still chairs. These opportunities have given him the platform to leverage his research on forest management, focused on wildfire prevention and climate change, and to develop practical solutions to the challenges we face in the wildland urban interface where we live.
