CONVERGE Virtual Forum – 2021 Boulder County Fires, Session 1

This CONVERGE Virtual Forum focused on research needs of the community and proposed research in response to the Boulder County Fires that ignited on December 30, 2021. 

Participants from all disciplines and multiple organizations attended this research forum, which was held on Wednesday, January 19, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm Mountain Time. Participants in this forum included:

• locally-affected researchers and emergency officials in Colorado who were involved in the response to the Marshall or Middle Fork Fires; 
• response or recovery officials with information regarding research protocols or priorities;  
• researchers who planned to or already launched studies on the fires in Colorado; and
• those interested in establishing social science and interdisciplinary research priorities for perishable data collection, discussing ethical considerations, or learning more about the early effects and social impacts of the fires.

Virtual Forum participants had the opportunity to: 

• learn from emergency management and long-term recovery officials about research protocols, emergent research needs, and available data and resources;  
• hear from researchers who have already launched or are planning to initiate research focused on the Boulder County Fires; and  
• identify possibilities for ethical and effective cross-disciplinary coordination and collaboration.

In advance of the meeting, participants were asked to access this shared document, which provides an outlet for researchers to communicate information regarding studies that have already been launched or are planned in response to the 2021 Boulder County Fires. This is also a space for researchers and our partners to share ideas regarding research that is needed as well as information about available data, equipment, resources, and funding opportunities. 

The recording of this online meeting and updates, questions, and comments are located on this page. If you are new to hazards or disaster research, we hope you will access resources available through CONVERGE, including our online Training Modules and Extreme Events Research Check Sheets. You can sign up for updates and other information through our CONVERGE website.

Our thoughts are with the many thousands of people who were recently evacuated, those who remain displaced and have lost their homes as a consequence of these devastating fires, and the Boulder County community as a whole.