Abstract
   Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas foster high fire risk because of factors like vegetation type, abundance, and the facilitation of human proximity to forested areas. There has been a recent increase of California WUI areas becoming established; although some are attributed to migrations of advantaged populations, with the integration of ‘fire-adapted communities,’ not all are created as such. Areas of disadvantaged WUI communities, doubly vulnerable from confronting both social and bio-physical vulnerability, can result in uneven impacts of wildfire disaster. Community vulnerability has been previously explored through the sociodemographic patterns of the communities affected, surrounding vegetation type and climatic variables, and mitigation performance of nearby wildfire protection entities. Our work utilizes wildfire fatality data to characterize community vulnerability to wildfire based on the conditions associated with fatal wildfires. We hope this research will continue to foster the creation of targeted action plans, to address the inequities of doubly vulnerable communities. 
   

Biography
   Mykael Pineda is a second year Master’s student at UC Merced. Her research in the Pyrogeography Lab uses GIS technologies to understand community vulnerability to wildfire within California. Mykael’s interest in wildfire began in her undergraduate program where she had a chance to explore burn scar restoration in Colorado. When she isn’t inside writing her thesis, Mykael enjoys hiking, painting,and buying new plants.

ZOOM Link

https://ucmerced.zoom.us/j/3750814424