Dr Brianna Larsen’s PhD began at the Bushfire CRC and evaluated the effect of different ambient temperatures on firefighters’ work performance and physiology. Brianna completed her PhD in 2015 at the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC by evaluating firefighters performing simulated work tasks in various ambient conditions. She found that firefighters safely performed the same amount of work during both hot (33°C) and temperate (18°C) conditions, likely due to the intermittent nature of the work, frequent task rotation and increased fluid consumption in hot conditions. However, firefighters were unable to maintain their work output in very hot conditions (45°C) and displayed significantly elevated heart rates and core body temperatures, despite doubling their fluid consumption.
Brianna is now a postdoctoral research fellow at Griffith University and research consultant at Human Performance Science.
Brianna’s thesis is available here.
Student project
Research team
| Type | Project | Research team |
|---|---|---|
| Tactical Research Fund | SES fit for task | Caleb Lewis, cwalker, Georgia Verry, asilk, rtait, blarsen, shall, Jamie Tait, Angus Pike |
