How do we live with fire? A conversation with Obi Kaufmann, Author of State of Fire, Why California Burns
Invited talk by Obi Kaufmann
Please join us for a conversation with Obi Kaufmann, UCSB alum and author of State of Fire, Why California Burns. Obi Kaufmann will discuss the essential role fire plays as part of California’s ecology. Humans have been using it to shape the California landscape for thousands of years. But today many Californians’ relationship to fire is one of fear. Obi Kaufmann, author of the best-selling California Field Atlas, now asks: How do we live with fire? What makes fire essential to a healthy and biodiverse Golden State, and how do we benefit from its teachings? With the same solution-minded ethic as his much-admired The State of Water: Understanding California’s Most Precious Resource, Kaufmann presents fire as a force of regeneration rather than apocalypse. He considers the long history of ecological burns, the varied ways fire behaves across the state, and the lessons we can learn from California’s largest fires of recent decades.
The event will be held on June 5 at UCSB's Henley Hall, starting with a reception at 5:45 pm then followed by the talk from 6:15 to 7:15 pm. The entire event is free to the public.
