Mike Flannigan
BC Innovation Research Chair in Predictive Services, Emergency Management and Fire Science, Faculty of Science
Dr. Mike Flannigan's primary research interests include fire and weather/climate interactions, including the potential impact of climatic change, lightning-ignited forest fires, landscape fire modelling and interactions between vegetation, fire, and weather. He uses machine learning approaches to better model and predict wildfire activity to inform the development of a wildfire early warning system and improve fire management planning and operations.
Mike was the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Wildland Fire (2002-2008) and has taken on leadership roles with the US National Assessment on Global Change, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme Fire Fast Track Initiative and Global Change Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) efforts on the global impacts of fire. He is a regular media commentator on Canadian wildland fire science topics, including fire mitigation, fire weather and climate change.
Education and credentials
- B.Sc. Physics, University of Manitoba
- M.Sc. Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University
- Ph.D. Plant Sciences, Cambridge University
- Meteorologist MT35, Environment Canada
Experience
- 2021 - Present | Thompson Rivers University
BC Innovation Research Chair in Predictive Services, Emergency Management and Fire Science, Department of Natural Resource Science - 2010 - Present | Canadian Partnership for Wildland Fire Science (Canada Wildfire)
Science Director - 2021 - Present | University of Alberta
Professor Emeritus - 2012 - 2021 | University of Alberta
Professor of Wildland Fire, Department of Renewable Resources - 1981 - 2012 | Natural Resources Canada
Canadian Forest Services
Media
- CBC - “World on Fire” Podcast
- CTV News - “Here's how wildfires are starting: Experts answer your questions”
- CBC - The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay, “What 2023’s wildfire season tells us about the changing risk of fire in Canada”
- The Conversation Canada - “How will Canada manage its wildfires in the future?”
- CBC - Nature of Things, “Into the Fire”
This is a small sample of media publications and interviews. Please visit TRU’s Newsroom for additional media.
Academic publications
Flannigan, M.D., Krawchuk, M.A., de Groot, W.J., Wotton, B.M. and Gowman, L.M. 2009. Implications of changing climate for global wildland fire. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 18:483-507.
Weber, M.G. and Flannigan, M.D. 1997. Canadian boreal forest ecosystem structure and function in a changing climate: Impacts on fire regimes. Environmental Reviews. 5:145-166.
Jain, P., Castellanos-Acuna, D., Coogan, S.C.P. Abatzoglou, J.T., and Flannigan, M.D. 2021. Observed increases in extreme fire weather driven by atmospheric humidity and temperature. Nature Climate Change.
Flannigan, M.D., Cantin, A.S., de Groot, W.J. Wotton, M. Newbery, A. and Gowman, L.M. 2013. Global wildland fire season severity in the 21st century. Forest Ecology and Management. 294:64-71.
Affiliations
- Canada Wildfire
Science Director - The Canada Wildfire NSERC Strategic Network
Principal Investigator and Science Director
