IAWF Establishes the Distinguished Service Award

             

The International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) is pleased to announce the establishment of the Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes individuals, groups or organizations for their outstanding contributions to furthering the goals of the Association.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the International Journal of Wildland Fire, the Association proudly honors Dr. William T. Sommers of George Mason University as the first recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. Through his vision and leadership as the forest service director of Forest Fire and Atmospheric Sciences Research, the International Journal of Wildland Fire was created.

Dr. Sommers spent 30 years in the research division of the U.S. Forest Service, serving as a director of national research programs. In that capacity, his areas of responsibility included forest fires, global change, carbon cycle, invasive species, quantitative ecology, ecological risk assessment and sustainable forest management. He served on the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG), International Boreal Forest Research Organization (IBFRA), the Roundtable on Sustainable Forest, and was active in the White House science committees on global change and ecological systems.

Following his distinguished career in the U.S. Forest Service, Bill joined the staff at George Mason University, where he serves as a research professor and chief scientist at the College of Science Center for Climate and Society and as the co-director of the EastFIRE Laboratory. Dr. Sommers is currently engaged in research on fire history and climate change as well as fire emissions of GHG and black carbon.

Bill has served on the IAWF's board of directors and as past vice president of the Association. He also represented IAWF as a member of the U.S. delegation to the XIIIth World Forestry Congress in Argentina. Sommers continues to forward the Association's goals through research and education.

The IAWF is grateful, Dr. Sommers, for your many contributions to the association and to wildland science.