A Texas A&M researcher is studying the physical and mental toll of wildland firefighting with the aim of keeping first responders safe from smoke and other hazards.
The retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel previously served as interim director, guiding the agency through one of the toughest Texas wildfire seasons on record.
An autumn wildfire blazes in the Appalachian Mountains. (Shutterstock) By Andrew Vernon, Texas A&M University College of Geosciences Fire was frequent in the past, and an important shaper of vegetation in the Appalachian forest – along with the rest of North America. These weren’t the catastrophic forest fires we see…