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Dr. Kirk Davies of the Agricultural Research Service is being recognized for his pioneering fire ecology research.

On Nov. 30, 2021, Dr. Kirk Davies with the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (ARS) was honored with the Distinguished Leadership in Research Award from the Association for Fire Ecology (AFE).

AFE is an international scientific organization dedicated to understanding and managing wildfire and prescribed fire impacts. Dr. Davies’ pioneering fire ecology research has helped provide the science foundation needed for addressing some of the most daunting management challenges on western rangelands.

Dr. Davies is currently the lead rangeland scientist for ARS at the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center in Burns.  

He graduated from Crane Union High School in 1996 and obtained dual bachelor of science degrees in crop and soil science and rangeland resources in 2000. He then obtained a doctorate in rangeland ecology and management from Oregon State University in 2005.

Dr. Davies was hired by the ARS in 2006 and has published 130 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles on fire ecology, grazing-fire interactions, post-fire rangeland management, and non-native species impacts and management. He has also published numerous management guides, extension articles, and proceeding papers. 

Dr. Davies is regularly requested to evaluate and advise on post-fire restoration plans for the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state agencies, and private landowners because of his expertise on the subject. 

His research on grazing-fire interactions has resulted in many requests to assist in developing rangeland fuel management strategies. Dr. Davies’ work is recognized globally with researchers in South America, North America, Asia, and Australia implementing projects based on his pioneering research on novel post-fire restoration strategies.

His research on pre-fire fuels management clearly showed the importance of cattle grazing for reducing the likelihood of fire, and reducing the severity of fire when it did occur.

Recently, he and other ARS colleagues worked with the University of Montana to create a model that predicts the probability of large wildfires in the Great Basin region. This model explained 70 percent of the variation in yearly acres burned in the Great Basin from 1988 to present, and the National Interagency Fire Center requested a meeting with the research team to discuss implications of the model to pre-emptive fire management actions in the Great Basin region. This is the first fuels-driven model to be accurate enough for broad management utility in predicting wildfire occurrence in rangeland vegetation.

Congratulations to Dr. Kirk Davies for this well-deserved honor!