Seattle City Light Seeking Research Collaborators to Apply for NSF Funding for Wildland Fire Research and Education
Posted: 3/5/2026 (Funding)
Seattle City Light is looking to partner with researchers to apply to a funding opportunity, Fire Science Innovations through Research and Education (FIRE) | NSF – U.S. National Science Foundation, by April 7. City Light has electricity generation infrastructure and transmission lines throughout Skagit, Whatcom, and Pend Oreille counties that we’re looking to protect from wildland fires. The NSD call fits within City Light’s planning for hazard work. Please reach out to tarney.sheldon@seattle.gov if interested in collaborating.
Fire Science Innovations through Research and Education (FIRE) Networks (FIRE-NET) projects, Focus Area 3 of the NSF call, will build new collaborative teams to synthesize aspects of wildland fire science and develop strategies for tackling key gaps. These networks will advance wildland fire research, or create new directions in research or education by supporting groups of investigators to communicate and coordinate their research, training, and educational activities across disciplinary, organizational, geographic, and international boundaries. Exchanging knowledge and information across and among different groups is encouraged. Projects will provide opportunities to foster new collaborations, including those with international partners where appropriate, and will address interdisciplinary knowledge and data exchange focused on wildland fire research and education.
Successful FIRE-NET conference proposals are encouraged to include but are not limited to the following types of activities:
- Leveraging existing and developing data resources to support the development of new wildland fire-related research directions and educational activities;
- Employing novel networking strategies and collaborative training technologies to enhance coordination among a variety of fields and knowledge holders;
- Developing community standards for data and meta- data use and management in wildland fire research;
- Developing mechanisms to share information and ideas, such as bringing together disparate data sources including Earth observation data;
- Advancing wildland fire-related science and education through communication, data analysis, ideas sharing, novel collaborations, and workforce development.
Particular areas of interest for FIRE-NETs include developing partnerships among groups that are not currently working together that might include multiple sectors, such as scientists from various disciplines, government representatives, resource managers, operational organizations, and community members. Small to large scale conference proposals that bring together different parts of the community to build a highly-functioning team are encouraged