New Mexico has been getting hotter and drier each year. Last winter, the state experienced record-breaking warm temperatures that could significantly affect this spring’s wildfire season.

At UNM, faculty experts are working with state officials and policymakers to help communities build wildfire resilience. The Center for Fire Resilient Ecosystems and Society (FIRES) is an interdisciplinary center that conducts research and community outreach to address the effects of fires. The Center develops next-generation fire and vegetation management tools and assesses the economic impacts of fires, the benefits of fire resilience strategies, and the health effects of air quality.

“Our state is highly flammable,” said Director Matthew Hurteau. “There are people working to alleviate this, and I wanted to bring them all together to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our discussions and solutions.”

Hurteau, a professor in UNM’s Biology Department, officially established the center in 2024 after years of foundational collaborations. FIRES’s vision is a future in which communities and ecosystems across New Mexico and the western U.S. are resilient to wildfire.

The FIRES team spans multiple departments and organizations, including biology, economics, communication and journalism, pharmaceutical sciences, computer sciences, internal medicine, geography and environmental studies, the Earth Data Analysis Center, and collaborators at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories and the U.S. Fire Service.