017: TALK STORY: Revolutionizing Wildland Management—Integrating Technology and Wisdom for Better Mitigation

How to Disaster

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

Episode Description:

“We're going to have to come together in order to be climate resilient.” —Elizabeth Christy

“The earth knows how to respond.” —Caitlin Cornwall

“There's this window of opportunity after a catastrophe.” —Joe Nordlinger

Disasters are complex challenges that require integrated solutions. While technology can provide powerful tools, traditional wisdom, and community-based approaches are equally vital. Effective disaster resilience must harness both cutting-edge innovations and time-tested local knowledge.

In this episode, we hear from a diverse panel of experts working to make communities more resilient to wildfires. Elizabeth Christy from the US Green Building Council, Caitlin Cornwall from the Sonoma Ecology Center, and Joe Nordlinger of the Napa Firewise Foundation share their unique perspectives and strategies.

The discussion covers key insights on the importance of long-term landscape management, the role of indigenous practices, the need for collaboration and funding, and ways to maintain momentum between disasters. Don't miss this insightful conversation on building truly resilient communities. Tune in now!

Connect with After The Fire USA:

• Website: https://afterthefireusa.org/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfterTheFireUSA
• X: https://twitter.com/AfterTheFireUSA
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterthefireusa/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/atf3r
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuTefxZgWUJkDVoZGZQpxgQ

Highlights:

• 04:38 Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Practice
• 09:24 Thinking About the Land Differently
• 13:31 Pre-Wildfire Resilience
• 19:56 Keeping the Momentum

Meet the Moderator

👩🏻‍💼 Lisa Micheli, Executive Board Member, After the Fire USA

Dr. Micheli joined Sonoma County’s Pepperwood Foundation in October of 2009 as its inaugural Executive Director and now serves as the organization’s President and CEO. She brings more than 30 years of experience applying her technical, policy, and fundraising expertise to the design and implementation of ecological restoration, research, and education programs. She started her career at the US Environmental Protection Agency and then completed her graduate studies at UC Berkeley as a NASA Earth Systems Research Fellow in 2000. She now focuses her research on relationships between climate, watershed health, and biodiversity and has published numerous peer-reviewed studies on river restoration, climate adaptation, and community-based approaches to biodiversity conservation.

Dr. Micheli specializes in facilitating interdisciplinary collaborations focused on using relevant research to craft collective solutions to today’s most pressing landscape conservation challenges. She serves as the co-chair of Pepperwood’s Terrestrial Biodiversity Climate Change Collaborative (TBC3), a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Bay Area climate adaptation research initiative, with Dr. David Ackerly, Dean of UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources. She also chairs the Golden Gate Biosphere Reserve team of the international Large Landscape Conservation Peer Network facilitated by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. She has been recognized as a Phi Beta Kappa scholar, a Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation Environmental Leader, a Bay Nature Institute Local Hero for Environmental Education, and a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. She is a member of the American Geophysical Union and the Society for Conservation Biology. Dr. Micheli serves as a director on After The Fire board and as a science advisor to the Sempervirens Fund, the Chile-California Conservation Network, the Bay Area Open Space Council, and the Water Research Foundation

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisamicheli/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.micheli1

Meet the Panel:

👩🏻‍💼Elizabeth Christy, Education Programs Manager, US Green Building Council California

Elizabeth graduated in Environmental Studies from Temple University. Elizabeth worked under Joanne Donahue, the Manager of Land Restoration at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education cultivating native plants and removing invasive species from the Penn’s Native Acre. Elizabeth also designed and installed an educational sensory garden for students. Elizabeth also worked in the West End of Outdoor Horticulture at Longwood Gardens, where she oversaw the orchard, Migratory Bird Sanctuary, vegetable garden, idea garden, trial garden, and children’s garden.

Since moving to California, Elizabeth has been the Program Manager for Eco Urban Gardens. She developed and implemented the Farm to Table and Farm to School programs. Elizabeth combines her passion for regenerative landscape and urban design with the impact on community health and environmental justice. She has a Docent Naturalist certification from Eaton Canyon Nature Center and has volunteered for the LA County Arboretum and California Native Plant Society.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-christy-3a1600272/

Connect with USGBA:

• Website: https://usgbc-ca.org/

👩🏻‍💼Caitlin Cornwall, Senior Project Manager, Sonoma Ecology Center

Caitlin is a biologist who leads planning and partnerships and advises on technical projects. She's worked since 1998 as a leader at Sonoma Ecology Center. She has a bachelor's degree in biology, and a master's in botany, and is an expert on land use ecology, watershed health indicators, and communicating with non-technical audiences, as well as building diverse partnerships. She's a native of Sonoma, and she's been a lead author of the Biodiversity Action Plan, the roadmap for climate resilience and homes for sustainable Sonoma Valley.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-cornwall-65769016/

Connect with Sonoma Ecology Center:

• Website: https://sonomaecologycenter.org/

👨🏻‍💼Joe Nordlinger, CEO, Napa Communities Firewise Foundation

Joe Nordlinger is the CEO of the Napa community's Firewise Foundation and brings a unique blend of wildfire preparedness and business expertise to this challenge. He has over two decades of experience in professional services, management, and corporate leadership, and chairs the Mount Veter Fire Safe Council and volunteers as a firefighter in Napa. He has helped the Fire Safe Council grow and secure over $100 million in grant funding, and he merges private sector strategies with fire safety.

• Webiste: https://napafirewise.org/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-nordlinger-2aa871/