Using a simple index of house loss and fatalities, David will explore the difference, and develop a conceptual model of wildfire adaptation paradigms in in the USA and Australia. While there are clear differences between these nations with emphasis on fuel management and building codes in Australia and mass evacuations in the USA, neither nation has well developed fire shelter policies.
Professor David Bowman is an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and the Director of the transdisciplinary Fire Centre at the University of Tasmania, where he holds a research chair in Pyrogeography and Fire Science. He is recognised as a thought leader in wildfire science and management publishing influential research in high-impact journals, providing policy advice to government, and serving as an expert media commentor. From 2019 to 2022 and 2025 he was listed as a Clarivate highly cited cross-disciplinary Researcher placing him in the top 0.1% of scientists globally.
