Workshop on Wildfire Research: How to integrate different research fields?

This workshop aims to stimulate research in wildfires and to help bridging the gap
between the forest fire, fire safety and combustion science communities.

Foresters, biologists, ecologists and geoscientists are well represented in the forest fire
research community but few teams are involved in mathematical, chemical and
physical studies. A simple search of the most read papers since 2000 in the
International Journal of Wildland Fire shows that the first paper on fire modelling is
ranked 18th. A research in Science Direct for “forest fire” or “wild fire” does not
provide any article from combustion or fire journals among more than 20000
references listed. We feel that there is a need for more involvement of combustion,
physics and chemical sciences in the field of forest fire research in a concerted and
interactive form.

The workshop on Wildfire Research is an occasion to bring together researchers from
many different fields that will attend the Conference.

The aim is to create an interactive discussion among experts from different domains
and young researchers. Three short invited lectures, given by experts in wildfires and
fires, will initiate round-table discussions.

The workshop takes place on Sunday June 7, 2009 afternoon. This is the day
preceding the 6th Mediterranean Combustion Symposium, in Porticcio - Ajaccio
Corsica. The workshop is held at the same venue.

The workshop is co-organized by the Combustion Institute, the ICHMT and the
International Association of Fire Safety Science.

Program

· 13:00 - 13:10 Welcome by Dr. A. Simeoni (University of Corsica)
· 13:10 - 13:40 Prof. D.X. Viegas (University of Coimbra, Portugal): Wildfire Research, a state-of-the-art.
· 13:40 - 14:20: General discussion on the state-of-the-art, strengths and weaknesses.
· 14:20 – 14:50 Dr. O. Sero-Guillaume (LEMTA CNRS, Nancy, France): Wildfire modelling, what purpose and what issues?
· 14:50 - 15:30 General discussion on the needs for future wildfires research.
· 15:30 - 16:00 Coffee break
· 16:00 - 16:20 Prof. J.L. Torero (University of Edinburgh, UK): Fire Science and combustion, which are the links with Wildfires?
· 16:20 – 17:00: General discussion on integrating different fields for Wildfire Research.
· 17:00 – 17:30: Closing session: summary of the discussions.

Venue

The workshop will take place in the Coralia Hotel, Porticcio, Ajaccio, Corsica. This is
the same resort where the 6th Mediterranean Combustion Symposium takes place.
Attendees are encouraged to stay in this hotel. Reservations must be made directly
with the hotel. Sunday lunch and dinner can be taken at the hotel (costs €15 each).

Registration

Registration is now possible. Please fill out this registration form (DOC) and e-mail it to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
The registration fee is:
· Regular: € 60
· Combustion Institute, ICHMT or IAFSS member: € 40
· PhD students: free of charge (a signed statement from the supervisor is required)

The registration fee can be paid by Visa, bank transfer (cf. registration form) or by
cash at the day of the workshop.

Organizing committee
· Prof. Domingos Xavier Viegas (University of Coimbra, Portugal)
· Dr. Olivier Sero-Guillaume, to be confirmed.
· Prof. Jose Luis Torero (University of Edinburgh, UK)
· Dr. Albert Simeoni (Università di Corsica, France)
· Dr. Eric Leoni (Università di Corsica, France)
· Prof. Paul-Antoine Santoni (Università di Corsica, France)