Media Coverage
Coverage of research from the Paleoecology and Fire Ecology Lab, expert input from lab members, and public-facing science communication. Outlets include The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR, National Geographic, and Scientific American, alongside regional and local outlets across the western U.S.
Jump to: Selected Media | Public Talks and Briefings
Tags: [Podcast] audio podcast; [Video] recorded talk or panel. Untagged entries are print or online articles and broadcast radio.
Selected Media
Reverse chronological. Lab members (students, postdocs) indicated where featured.
2025
November 2025: “Analysis: Forest Service going ‘full suppression’ on wildfires despite fuels build-up.” Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
October 2025: “What happens to wildlife during a wildfire?” The Big Why, Montana Public Radio.
January 2025: “As Big Sky firefighters return from L.A. wildfires, experts warn of growing risk at home.” Explore Big Sky.
2024
August 2024: “These Oregon ranchers say the losses from summer range fires will be huge.” NPR National News.
March 2024: “Montana researchers say quick wildfire suppression leads to larger, more intense fires.” Daily Montanan. Features M.R. Kreider (College alum) and P.E. Higuera.
2023
August 2023: “5 ‘surprising’ areas where wildfire risk is increasing.” The Hill.
March 2023: “Increasingly large and intense wildfires hinder Western forests’ ability to regenerate.” Inside Climate News.
February 2023: “Why Western wildfires are becoming more destructive.” High Country News, reposting the lab’s piece in The Conversation.
February 2023: “The rate of structure loss due to wildfires is growing, researcher says.” Montana Public Radio.
February 2023: “Because of humans, wildfires are burning more homes.” The Missoulian.
January 2023: “In a warming world, California’s trees keep dying.” High Country News.
2022
March 2022: “Wildfire trends outpace mitigation measures.” Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
February 2022: [Podcast] “Ep. 24: Climate change impacts on high severity, low frequency fire regimes with Phil Higuera.” Life with Fire podcast, hosted by Amanda Monthei.
January 2022: “How climate change primed Colorado for a rare December wildfire.” NBC News.
2021
December 2021: “How climate change intensified Colorado fires.” The Washington Post.
December 2021: “A rare winter wildfire is a sign of climate change lengthening fire season.” Montana Public Radio.
October 2021: “La Niña is about to take the Southwest drought from bad to worse.” CNN.
July 2021: “The climate change link to more and bigger wildfires.” Montana Public Radio.
July 2021: [Podcast] “These fires ARE different, with Phil Higuera and Kyra Wolf.” A New Angle podcast. Features K.D. Wolf (lab alum) and P.E. Higuera.
July 2021: “Fire scientists report record low fuel moisture in western Montana.” NBC Montana.
July 2021: “Skip the fireworks this record-dry July 4th, fire scientists urge the U.S. West.” PBS News Hour, reposting the lab’s piece in The Conversation.
July 2021: “Experts recommend leaving fireworks unlit this 4th of July.” National Public Radio.
July 2021: “Today’s wildfires are taking us into uncharted territory.” Scientific American.
June 2021: “High-elevation forests now burning more frequently than any time in the past 2,000 years.” Montana Free Press. Features K.D. Wolf (lab alum) and P.E. Higuera.
June 2021: “Fire ecology professor says ecosystem in ‘uncharted territory’.” Montana Public Radio.
June 2021: “Rocky Mountain forest fires more frequent than ever, study finds.” Voice of America.
June 2021: “High-elevation forests in the Rockies are burning more now than in the past 2,000 years.” CNN.
2020
October 2020: “Living with fire: Officials, environmentalists wrestle with how to best manage forests.” Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
October 2020: “Off the charts: Dryness stat shows why West is burning.” E&E News.
October 2020: “Colorado contends with record-setting wildfires.” ClimateWire.
October 2020: “Late-season wildfires rampage through Colorado.” The New York Times.
September 2020: “The science connecting wildfires to climate change.” National Geographic.
September 2020: “The new normal? Fire watchers fear we’re just getting started.” Missoulian.
September 2020: “How an easterly wind, hotter summers could fuel more devastating wildfire on Western slopes of Cascades.” Seattle Times.
July 2020: “Full-court suppress.” Montana Free Press.
May 2020: “Scientists are bringing their research home during COVID-19 closures.” Montana Public Radio.
2019
October 2019: “Ecologist helps redefine our perspective on forest fires.” Stories from the Field, Engineers & Scientists Acting Locally.
August 2019: “Why the Arctic is smoldering.” BBC Future.
July 2019: “Withstanding wildfire with words: study seeks best ways to recover.” Missoulian.
June 2019: “Wildfire smoke is here to stay.” Outside Magazine.
March 2019: “Fire study shows landscapes such as Bitterroot’s Sapphire Range too hot, dry to restore trees.” Missoulian. Features K.T. Davis (lab alum) and P.E. Higuera.
January 2019: “Why the shutdown could mean a worse wildfire season.” NPR News.
2018
September 2018: “Will more logging ease wildfires? Canada holds answers.” Wyoming Public Media.
February 2018: “New study finds climate change reducing forest regrowth after fires.” Montana Public Radio.
2017
November 2017: “Collaborative group seeks consensus after Montana’s summer of smoke.” Montana Public Radio.
November 2017: “The controversies that defined the 2017 fire season, and foreshadow the fires next time.” Missoula Independent.
October 2017: “Get used to it: Fire experts warn summer smoke and flames aren’t going away.” The Missoulian.
October 2017: “‘Gone are the days we can overwhelm a fire with mass’.” Great Falls Tribune.
October 2017: “Get used to wildfire, and rethink ‘natural processes’ panelists say.” Montana Public Radio.
October 2017: “The $2 billion question: spend on fighting fires or preventing them?” Marketplace, American Public Media.
September 2017: “Zinke’s fire memo calls for aggressive forest thinning.” High Country News.
September 2017: “The West’s dramatic wildfire season, explained.” High Country News, republishing the lab’s CityLab piece.
September 2017: “The West is on fire. Get used to it.” CityLab.
2016
May 2016: “Global warming to spur more fires in Alaska, in turn causing more warming.” Inside Climate News.
Public Talks and Briefings
Invited talks and panels for managers, policy makers, journalists, and the general public. Recordings linked where available.
2025
March 6, 2025: Invited keynote speaker, IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT. “Wildfires are inevitable. How can we reduce human suffering?”
2024
June 13, 2024: [Video] Invited panel presenter, National Academies of Sciences workshop “The Social-Ecological Consequences of Future Wildfire in the West” (Higuera appears at 1:25 in the recording).
2022
March 3, 2022: Invited presenter (1 of 3), Montana State Legislature’s Environmental Quality Council, session on “Wildfire Behavior and Mitigation.”
2021
September 16, 2021: [Video] Invited panelist, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies’ virtual public event “Wildfire in the Western US: Causes, Consequences, & Adaptation.”
September 1, 2021: [Video] Invited panelist, SciLine media briefing “Wildfires: Climate connections & community impacts”, for a national audience of journalists.
March 4, 2021: Invited public presentation, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies’ Naturalist’s Nights. “Colorado’s record-setting 2020 fire season in the context of the past 6,000 years.”
2020
December 8, 2020: [Video] Invited public presentation, “The past and future ecological effects of wildfire,” part of the public session “Wildfire and Wildfire Smoke: Effects on ecosystems, agricultural works, horses, and wine grapes”, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources.
July 9, 2020: Public lecture “Wildfire and Climate Change in the West,” organized by the Bitterroot Climate Action Group.
May 2020: Presenter and panelist, wildfire workshop for journalists, Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources (national cohort).
2019
May 31, 2019: Participant, workshop “Climate Ready Communities: Building Resiliency in Missoula County,” sponsored by the Missoula Chamber of Commerce, Climate Smart Missoula, and the City of Missoula.
May 30, 2019: Invited presentation, 19th Institute for Natural Resources Law Teachers, Missoula, MT. “The inevitability of wildfire in the West: past, present, and future.”
April 5, 2019: Presenter and panelist, wildfire workshop for journalists, Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources (local and regional cohort).
2018
November 7, 2018: Talk, “Science on Tap,” Flathead Lake Brewery. “The inevitability of wildfire in the West: past, present, and future.”
October 14, 2018: Presenter, “Science of National Forest Planning Symposium,” Custer-Gallatin National Forest Plan revision process. “Changing fire regimes and forest resilience: past, present, and future.”
April 20, 2018: Presenter and panelist, “The Future of Wildfire,” Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources.
February 27, 2018: Talk, UM Community Lecture Series. “The inevitability of wildfires: fire history and the future of fire.”
2017
October 2017: Panelist, “Living with Fire” public evening event, sponsored by Treesource.org.
2016
July 2016: Presenter and participant, “Learning from a Legacy of Wilderness Fire in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex” workshop, Spotted Bear Ranger Station, Northern Rockies Fire Science Network.
Last updated April 2026. For inquiries, contact philip.higuera@umontana.edu.