C. ALINA CANSLER
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON • SCHOOL OF FOREST RESOURCES
P.O. BOX 352100 • SEATTLE, WA 98195-2100
206-794-1630
ACANSLER@U.WASHINGTON.EDU
WWW.CFR.WASHINGTON.EDU/RESEARCH.FME
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Disturbance ecology, landscape ecology, climate change, remote sensing
EDUCATION
PH.D. STUDENT, FOREST ECOSYSTEM ANALYSIS (EXPECTED COMPLETION 2014)
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SCHOOL OF FOREST RESOURCES, SEATTLE, WA
Fire and Mountain Ecology Lab, Advisor: Don McKenzie
MS, FOREST ECOSYSTEM ANALYSIS (2011)
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SCHOOL OF FOREST RESOURCES, SEATTLE, WA
Fire and Mountain Ecology Lab, Advisor: Don McKenzie
Thesis: Drivers of burn severity in the northern Cascade Range, Washington, USA. [.pdf]
BA, DUAL MAJOR: (1) ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, (2) POLITICS (2002)
WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY, SALEM, OR
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
9/08 –
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
present
FIRE AND MOUNTAIN ECOLOGY LAB, SCHOOL OF FOREST RESOURCES, UNIVERSITY OF
WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, WA
Current PhD research focuses on fire effects and post-fire succession in alpine and subalpine
parkland in the Cascade Range and Northern Rocky Mountains. Research uses remote-sensing,
field-based, and modeling approaches with the goal of integrating a contagious disturbance
processes (fire) into models predicting shifts in ecotone boundaries due to climate change.
Previous MS research investigated the influence of climate and topography on fire regime
attributes in the northern Cascade Range of Washington, USA using remotely-sensed burn severity
data from 125 fires. Conducted field validation of categorical burn severity images, spatial analysis
of burn severity pattern, and topographical complexity, and statistical modeling of climatic and
topographical relationships to fire severity and spatial complexity metrics.
2/07 – 9/08 LEAD FIRE EFFECTS MONITOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK, MARBLEMOUNT, WA
Led field crews in collection of vegetation and fuel monitoring data in WA and northern OR
National Parks. Responsible for hiring, training, performance evaluations, purchasing of
equipment. Assisted with prescribed and wildland fire operations; conducted helicopter and
logistical support operations. Competed post-season analysis of data for all parks, drafted annual
report, and oversaw GIS data management.
4/05 – 9/06 ASSISTANT LEAD FIRE EFFECTS MONITOR & ACTING LEAD FIRE EFFECTS MONITOR
8.04-10.04 ASSISTANT LEAD FIRE EFFECTS MONITOR
5/03-8.04
FIRE EFFECTS MONITOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, ZION NATIONAL PARK, SPRINGDALE, UT
Led the Zion National Park fire monitoring crew in establishing and sampling Fire Effects
Monitoring plots at National Parks throughout the Colorado Plateau. Responsible for database
quality control and conversion from DOS to SQL. Assisted with fire operations; specialized as a
lookout on suppression fires, and fire monitor on wildland fire use and prescribed fires. Completed
monitoring report for landscape prescribed fires, and assisted with annual reports.
PUBLICATIONS
Cansler, C. A., and D. McKenzie. 2012. How Robust Are Burn Severity Indices When Applied in
a New Region? Evaluation of Alternate Field-Based and Remote-Sensing Methods. Remote
Sensing 4:456-483. doi:10.3390/rs4020456
MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPERATION
Cansler, C.A., D. McKenzie. In Prep. Fire size and ecological setting influence severity and spatial
pattern of fires in the Cascade Range, Washington, USA
PRESENTATIONS
C.A. Cansler, D. McKenzie. 2010. Climatic and topographical influences on fire regime attributes
in the northern Cascade Range, Washington, USA. Contributed poster. American Geophysical
Union Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA. [.pdf]
C.A. Cansler. 2011. Drivers of burn severity in the northern Cascade Range, Washington, USA.
Invited oral presentation. Fire Lab Seminar Series. USFS Fire Sciences Lab, Missoula, MT.
C.A. Cansler, D. McKenzie. 2011. Drivers of burn severity in the northern Cascade Range,
Washington, USA. Contributed oral presentation. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting.
Austin, TX.
A.J. Larson, R. T. Belote, L. Brett, C. A. Cansler, C. R. Davis. M. S. Dietz. 2011. Fire effects on
forest composition, structure and carbon stocks of western larch (Larix occidentalis) forests in the
Bob Marshall Wilderness: Contemporary benchmarks for forest restoration. Contributed poster.
Fourth Annual Research Symposium of Montana Chapter of Society for Conservation Biology.
C.A. Cansler, D. McKenzie. 2011. The influence of fire size and climate on burn severity and the
within-fire burn severity pattern in the northern Cascade Range, WA, USA. Contributed poster.
Exploring the Mega-fire Reality Conference. Tallahassee, FL.
SKILLS
FIELD SKILLS: Field botany in southwest and northwest U.S. (technical keys: Hitchcock and
Cronquist, Welsh). Field identification of common forest pathogens. Off-trail travel and navigation,
map and compass navigation, GPS (Garmin, Trimble), surveying experience with Nikon and Leica
total stations. Mountaineering, climbing. Federal Wildland Fire Certifications (now expired)
included: Fire Fighter Type 2, Fire Effects Monitor (FEMO), Helicopter Crewmember (HECM).
SOFTWARE: ArcGIS, R, ENVI, FRAGSTATS, SPSS, FFI (FEAT/FIREMON Integration),
Microsoft Office.