About us
Team and skills
The Scion Fire and Atmospheric Sciences Team has strong capabilities in fire behaviour modelling that includes knowledge and experience across a range of vegetation types and landscapes. Team members comprises a diverse mix of skills, including:
Tara Strand (General Manager Forests and Landscapes): smoke dispersion modeller, smoke emissions, turbulence, fire-atmosphere links, extreme fire behaviour
Samuel Aguilar (Scientist): invertebrate ecology, animal behaviour, sensory ecology, statistics
Veronica Clifford (Fire Scientist): fuels and fire behaviour, fire as a land management tool, technology development for transfer of knowledge
Shana Gross (Science Leader): fire ecology, disturbance ecology, post-fire landscapes, landscape ecology, climate science, ecological restoration, landscape assessments and planning, decision support tool development
Jamie (Fire Technician): fuels and fire behaviour, fire suppression, fire fighting, field operational set up
Lisa Langer (Social Scientist): community wildfire risk perception and preparedness, community engagement and effective communication
Richard Parker (Human Factors Scientist): firefighter health and productivity, suppression tools and technology development for use on the fire-ground
Ilze Pretorius (Atmospheric Scientist): smoke plume modelling, real-time fire information tool development, fire weather
Laura Kiely (Fire and Atmospheric Scientist): fire and smoke modelling, fire information tool development
Hugh Wallace (Fire Scientist): fuels and fire behaviour, fire suppression
Alison Wilson (Project Delivery Manager): monitoring and managing project plan tracking and accomplishment reporting, and team coordination
Jiawei Zhang (Atmospheric Scientist): micrometeorology, atmospheric-fire interaction, air pollution and cloud microphysics
Contact us
Shana Gross, Science Lead
Hugh Wallace, Team Lead
Scion Fire and Atmospheric Sciences Team
PO Box 29-237
Riccarton
Christchurch 8440