UCLA Assistant Professor Liz Koslov Receives NSF Award for Research on Managed Retreat in Wildfire Zones

In response to the escalating threat of wildfires, UCLA assistant professor Liz Koslov has been awarded funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation for her research on wildfire adaptation strategies. Her proposal, titled “Assessing managed retreat as an adaptive response to wildfire risk” will investigate the effectiveness, equity and feasibility of managed retreat within the context of wildfires.

This award, facilitated by the NSF’s Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation division, is a one-year planning grant aimed at identifying research priorities at the intersection of wildfire and managed retreat. With the grant’s support, principal investigator Koslov and co-principal investigator Kathryn McConnell have assembled a comprehensive working group of wildfire researchers, flood-based managed retreat scholars, community members and practitioners from various fields.

This interdisciplinary collaboration is poised to deepen the understanding of managed retreat’s implications in wildfire-prone regions. By examining retreat dynamics in both fire and flood contexts, the research endeavors to provide valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners. Ultimately, this NSF-funded initiative led by Koslov will pave the way for more resilient communities in the face of escalating wildfire risks.