Autym Shafer

Autym Shafer is a second year Master of Forestry student at the University of California, Berkeley. Her work broadly focuses on beneficial fire, with the goal of producing science that directly supports land management decisions. Additionally, she is the Statewide Coordinator of the California Fire Science Consortium, which seeks to accelerate the awareness, understanding, and adoption of wildland fire science information by decision makers.

Admittance Semester and Year, Program

Fall 2025, Master of Forestry 

Education

BS, Environmental Studies, 2018, Virginia Commonwealth University

Research Lab

Stephens Fire Science Lab

Selected Publications

• Shafer, A. (Submitted). Ecological and Personal Resilience After Fire. Berkeley Science Review Magazine. 

• Shafer, A. & Holbrook, H. (Under Review). Fire Behavior and Ignitions (Chapter 10). Guidebook for Prescribed Burning in California.

• Shafer, A. & Waldner, K. (2026). Delivering Actionable Science Communication for a Dynamic Fire Landscape. Ecological Restoration, 44(3). https://doi.org/10.3368/er.44.3.137

• Youberg, A. M., McGuire, L. A., Oakley, N., Rangers, F. K., and Shafer, A. (2025). Establishing Directions in Postfire Debris-Flow Science. Eos, 106. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EO250069

• Shafer, A. & Boerigter, C.E. (2025). Untrammeling the wilderness: restoring natural conditions through the return of fire. California Fire Science Consortium Research Brief. https://cafirescience.org/document/119

• Shafer, A. & Swain, D. L. (2024). Climate change is narrowing and shifting prescribed fire windows. California Fire Science Consortium Research Brief. https://cafirescience.org/document/107

Selected Presentations

• Shafer, A., & Waldner, K. (2026). Case Study: Illilouette Creek Basin and the Ecological Benefits of Managed Wildfire. Beneficial Fire Summit. Special Session.

• Shafer, A., & Waldner, K. (2026). Opportunities and Operationalizing of Managed Wildfire: 2023 SRF Lightning Complex Case Study. Beneficial Fire Summit. Special Session.

• Shafer, A. (2025). The California Fire Science Consortium- Adapting to serve a dynamic fire landscape. 11th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress. Presentation. 

• Shafer, A. & Waldner, K. (2025). Bridging Science and Practice in California: A CFSC Student Research Showcase, Session 1: Prescribed Fire Across California. 11th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress. Special Session.

• Shafer, A. & Waldner, K. (2025). Bridging Science and Practice in California: A CFSC Student Research Showcase, Session 2: Fire and Fuels Management for Restoration and Resilience. 11th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress. Special Session.

• Baldwin, C., Dante-Wood, K., Ellison, A., McCormick, M., MontBlanc, E., Shafer, A., and York, A. (2023). Communicating Fire Science: Increasing Impact, Improving Management, and Expanding Connections with the Fire Community. 10th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress. Fire Circle.

Selected Honors and Awards

• Forestry Endowment Fund *Baker-Bidwell

• Graduate Division Conference Travel Grant

• Departmental Sponsorship

• Chancellor’s Public Fellow