Heather Simpson

Heather Simpson’s PhD is providing empirical measures and modelling of resources that are used for suppression of campaign fires. Her research is examining historical data by evaluating recent campaign fires in Australia. She is then using operational data to generate models of current suppression resourcing and tactics. These models will be used to evaluate various resource scenarios in simulation studies.

One of Heather’s key findings to date relates to suppression firing, or backburning - a practice used for bushfire control. She examined the prevalence and practice of suppression firing in Victoria to investigate its impact on fire containment and the fire environment.