Research Description
I am interested in the interactions of wildland fire and ecosystems. This includes how prehistoric fires once interacted with ecosystems, how current wildland fires are affecting ecosystems, and how future fires and management will influence people and ecosystems. He is also interested in wildland fire and forest policy and how it can be improved to meet the challenges of the coming decades, both nationally and internationally. Working with Indigenous partners to learn how to steward ecosystems into the future with climate change is a key area of research. His research papers can be seen at Stephens Fire Science Lab Publications.
Scott has given testimony on fire and forest policy at the US House of Representatives, the White House, California Assembly and Senate, California Governor’s office, and served on the 2024 US Wildfire Commission. He is on the Board of Directors of the Climate Wildfire Institute and is one of the leaders of The Stewardship Project which is a partnership of Indigenous people and western science to improve federal fire policy. He was selected in the Clarivate's Top 1% of Researchers Worldwide in 2024 and 2025.
Education
Ph.D. Wildland Resource Science, University of California, Berkeley, 1995
B.S. Electrical Engineering, Sacramento State University, 1985
Honors and Awards
- Selected in the Top 1% of Researchers Worldwide in 2024 and 2025 (https://clarivate.com/highly-cited-researchers/)
- Fullbright Fellowship in 2014 to Western Australia
- Certified Senior Fire Ecologists from the Association for Fire Ecology
- ESPM Department teaching award for ESPM 181A Fire Science
Wildland fire science, fire ecology, forest ecology, forest policy, forest management
