As fierce wildfires continue to spread across the Los Angeles area, more than 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate and at least 10,000 structures have burned. At the Natural Hazards Center, our hearts are with those who have fled their homes, and we hold immense respect for the firefighters and first responders who are fighting the flames and helping people to safety.
These and other recent wildfires call attention to the risks for those living in hotter, drier landscapes and underscore the urgent need for evidence-based research to address the increasing impacts of climate-driven disasters.
With that in mind, the Center offers resources and funding opportunities to support researchers—and those who support the research response—in studying and applying findings.
Research Funding
Quick Response Research Awards
The National Science Foundation-funded Quick Response Award Program provides training and funds for researchers to quickly collect perishable data following disasters and other extreme events. Available funds will support awards up to $5,000 each.
Special Call for Health Outcomes and Climate-Related Disaster Research Awards
This special call—made possible with supplemental funding from the National Institutes of Health—is for quick response research focused on health outcomes among groups disproportionately affected by climate-related disasters. Available funds will support awards in the amount of $10,000 to $50,000 each.
Other Resources
CONVERGE Resources
The CONVERGE Training Modules and Extreme Events Research Check Sheets can help cultivate the skills and understanding needed to conduct ethical and culturally competent disaster research. Trainings are geared toward understanding the emotional challenges of such research, collecting perishable data, working with socially vulnerable populations, engaging in reciprocal research partnerships, and several other relevant topics.
SSEER Network
The Social Science Extreme Events Research Network—or SSEER—is a global network of social scientists who study hazards and disasters. Please visit the SSEER map to identify locally affected researchers and social scientists who study topics relevant to this disaster such as the human effects of wildfire, evacuation behavior, warnings, and health outcomes.
Wildfire-Related Publications
The Natural Hazards Center has funded dozens of wildfire research projects to investigate other major fires, including the 2023 Hawaii Wildfires, 2021 Boulder County Fire, 2018 Woolsey Fire, and numerous other events. Please visit this page, which demonstrate lessons learned concerning protective actions, knowledge exchange, and evacuation decision making, among many other relevant topics. Each report also includes recommendations to be applied to reduce future harm. We hope the approaches and findings from this prior work can be used to inform the research response and recovery from these recent fires.
Virtual Forums
The CONVERGE facility will host two upcoming Virtual Forums. The first session will spotlight resources for researchers and recent lessons learned from teams who have studied other major wildfire events. The second session will encourage communication, coordination, and collaboration among those who plan to study the 2025 Southern California Wildfires.
We will add to this page as the California fires continue to burn and recovery begins. In this crisis, the Center remains steadfast in our mission to advance disaster social science and interdisciplinary knowledge, and we find hope in the work that the hazards and disasters community does each day to reduce harm.
We look forward to supporting your efforts. Please contact us at hazctr@colorado.edu.