{"id":9686,"date":"2026-01-12T12:43:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T17:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/?post_type=tribe_events&#038;p=9686"},"modified":"2026-02-10T11:12:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:12:53","slug":"geography-colloquium-series-dr-erica-smithwick","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/geography-colloquium-series-dr-erica-smithwick\/","title":{"rendered":"Geography Colloquium Series: Dr. Erica Smithwick"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-will-the-most-damaging-wildfire-occur-in-the-east\">Will the most damaging wildfire occur in the East?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"399\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/01\/Erica-Smithwick-400x560-1248.avif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9688\" style=\"width:348px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/01\/Erica-Smithwick-400x560-1248.avif 399w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/01\/Erica-Smithwick-400x560-1248-214x300.avif 214w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-default\">In 2024 and 2025, thousands of wildfires burned in novel settings across the East, including unprecedented fires in populated regions like Long Island, New York, Massachusetts, and the Carolinas.&nbsp; While fires in the East have been considered rare, intensifying drought combined with limited preparedness could portend significant vulnerabilities in the future.&nbsp; Comparing wildfires in the West to wildland fire management in the East, this talk will explore the environmental, social, and governance frontiers in understanding this region&#8217;s potential risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Erica Smithwick,\u00a0Distinguished\u00a0Professor of Geography at Penn State, is a landscape and ecosystem ecologist. She is the Director of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eesi.psu.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Earth and Environmental Systems Institute<\/a>, and\u00a0Associate Director of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/iee.psu.edu\/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Institute of Energy and the Environment<\/a>. Smithwick leads the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/climate.psu.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Penn State Climate Consortium<\/a><font color=\"#c52026\"><span><u>,<\/u><\/span><\/font> which brings together interdisciplinary researchers in partnership with society to develop climate solutions. Additionally, she serves as program co-chair for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/hhd.psu.edu\/graduate\/dual-title\/TREES\/Dual-Title-degrees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society<\/a>. Smithwick is also a former director of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.huck.psu.edu\/institutes-and-centers\/ecology-institute\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ecology Institute<\/a> and the Center for Landscape Dynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Erica Smithwick of Pennsylvania State University will present \u201cWill the most damaging wildfire occur in the East?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":9688,"template":"","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"America\/New_York","_EventStartDate":"2026-02-12 12:00:00","_EventEndDate":"2026-02-12 13:00:00","_EventStartDateUTC":"2026-02-12 17:00:00","_EventEndDateUTC":"2026-02-12 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