Shell-Shocked and Irradiated: Managing Ukraine’s Forests in Time of War

Join Sergiy Zibtsez, head of the Regional Eastern Europe Monitoring Center (REEFMC), and Robert English, professor of international relations at USC Dornsife, for a conversation about the historical and current challenges of Ukrainian forest fire management. The event will be moderated by Jameson Karns, assistant research director of The Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West's (ICW) "West on Fire."

Sergiy Zibtsev is a Professor at the Department of Silviculture of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine and Head of the Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center (REEFMC) based in Kyiv.  REEFMC is associated to the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) and has been worked with international organization (UNEP, GEF, OSCE) and EU on developing and implementation of holistic approach to research based Integrated Landscape Fire Management, including such a crisis regions like Chornobyl Exclusion Zone and recently  - zone of armed conflict. The mission of the REEFMC is to provide advisory support to the region and Ukrainian authorities, international organizations towards developing policies and capacities in Integrated Landscape Fire Management.

Robert English is the associate professor of International Relations of Slavic Languages and Literature and Environment Studies. He is an American academic, author, historian, and international relations scholar who specializes in the history and politics of contemporary Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and Russia, with a focus ranging from general issues of regional relations to specific questions of ethnicity, identity, and nationalism. He formerly worked as a policy analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense and the Committee for National Security.

Jameson Karns is a former firefighter whose research focuses on international wildfire management. He serves as the ICW's “West on Fire” assistant research director.

This webinar is made possible by a partnership between The Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West (ICW) and the Forest History Society.