NPS partners with Project Learning Tree for fire ecology workshop

Teachers from Alaska listen to a presentation by Regional Fire Ecologist Jennifer Barnes at a Project Learning Tree workshop in Denali National Park & Preserve

NPS

In June 2022, NPS Alaska regional fire ecologist Jennifer Barnes taught at an educator workshop at Denali National Park and Preserve hosted by Project Learning Tree (PLT). It was one of the many educator and continuing learning series opportunities that Barnes has led in Alaska throughout her career. The workshop, held at the Murie Science and Learning Center Field Camp, brought together educators from across the state to learn about the unique fire ecology in Denali National Park and Preserve.

Workshop participants visited the site of the 2002 Denali Horseshoe Fire by the park’s headquarters. The participants discussed different tree succession patterns and how severity of fires influences tree growth rates. They measured the number of seedlings in the area and aged seedlings and trees within and outside of the previously burned area. They also compared soil samples from an unburned area versus the burned area and discussed how wildfires affect permafrost.

Several teachers from Alaska listen to a presentation by Regional Fire Ecologist Jennifer Barnes at a Project Learning Tree workshop in Denali National Park & Preserve

NPS

Jennifer Barnes’s years of experience in fire ecology in Alaska will help teachers educate their students, and perhaps spark students’ interest in expanding their knowledge of ecology and wildland fire management as part of their continued education and future careers. The NPS Alaska Region is excited to have developed this partnership with PLT and hopes to continue it into the future.

Learn more about Project Learning Tree in Alaska.