About us

Team and skills

The Scion Fire and Atmospheric Sciences Team has strong capabilities in fire behaviour modelling that includes knowledge and experience across a range of vegetation types and landscapes. Team members comprises a diverse mix of skills, including:

Tara Strand (General Manager Forests and Landscapes): smoke dispersion modeller, smoke emissions, turbulence, fire-atmosphere links, extreme fire behaviour

Samuel Aguilar (Scientist): invertebrate ecology, animal behaviour, sensory ecology, statistics

Veronica Clifford (Fire Scientist): fuels and fire behaviour, fire as a land management tool, technology development for transfer of knowledge

Shana Gross (Science Leader): fire ecology, disturbance ecology, post-fire landscapes, landscape ecology, climate science, ecological restoration, landscape assessments and planning, decision support tool development

Jamie (Fire Technician): fuels and fire behaviour, fire suppression, fire fighting, field operational set up

Lisa Langer (Social Scientist): community wildfire risk perception and preparedness, community engagement and effective communication

Richard Parker (Human Factors Scientist): firefighter health and productivity, suppression tools and technology development for use on the fire-ground

Ilze Pretorius (Atmospheric Scientist): smoke plume modelling, real-time fire information tool development, fire weather

Hugh Wallace (Fire Scientist): fuels and fire behaviour, fire suppression

Alison Wilson (Project Delivery Manager): monitoring and managing project plan tracking and accomplishment reporting, and team coordination

Jiawei Zhang (Atmospheric Scientist): micrometeorology, atmospheric-fire interaction, air pollution and cloud microphysics

Contact us

Shana Gross, Science Lead
Tel: 03 363 1001

Hugh Wallace, Team Lead
Tel: 03 363 0936

Scion Fire and Atmospheric Sciences Team
PO Box 29-237
Riccarton
Christchurch 8440

General enquiries