Santana and Co-authors Review Mental Health Risks and Recommendations for Wildfire Researchers
Posted: 4/9/2026 (CSDE Research)
CSDE Affiliate Francisca Santana (Environmental and Forest Sciences) and co-authors highlighted the mental health risks facing wildfire researchers in a recent forum piece in Fire Ecology. Mental health risks include direct and secondary trauma compounded by climate anxiety and ecological grief. Drawing on their own experiences conducting interdisciplinary, community-engaged research in western North America, Santana and co-authors synthesize actionable recommendations for individual researchers, supervisors, and institutions to support researcher wellbeing. The piece calls on the wildfire research community to cultivate communities of care to sustain both researcher mental health and the quality of wildfire scienc