Fire After Fire: The Global Wildfire Challenge and the Hidden Risks of Recovery

The New York Academy of Sciences and International Science Reserve are proud to present Fire After Fire: The Global Wildfire Challenge and the Hidden Risks of Recovery

The 2026 wildfire season once again tested cities and communities around the world from North America and the Mediterranean to Australia. But the story doesn't end when the flames go out. When communities burn, the challenge extends beyond smoke and fire to toxic residues, contaminated water supplies, damaged infrastructure, and long-term public health consequences.

Join the International Science Reserve for a global conversation that moves beyond suppression to ask what cities can learn from this year's wildfire season about recovery, adaptation, and preparedness. A geographically diverse panel of scientists and practitioners — spanning wildfire science, emergency management, environmental health, and Indigenous fire stewardship — will compare how different regions experienced and responded to this year's fires, and what it will take to recover safely and rebuild resilience.

How the 2026 wildfire season unfolded across different regions of the world, and what set the most effective responses apart
The hidden, longer-term risks of wildfire recovery from toxic chemical legacies to contaminated drinking water
How early warning systems and predictive science are evolving
What indigenous fire stewardship practices can teach modern wildfire management
What it will take to build lasting resilience: from insurance and infrastructure to public health monitoring

Who Should Attend

Scientists and researchers, emergency managers and first responders, public health and environmental professionals, city and climate policymakers, and anyone interested in how communities recover from disaster — from the ISR network and the wider public alike.

Nicholas Dirks, PhD
The New York Academy of Sciences
Nicholas B. Dirks, PhD is President and Chief Executive Officer of The New York Academy of Sciences and a distinguished historian and anthropologist. Previously, Dirks served as Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, where Dirks led major initiatives in education, research collaboration, and data science. Prior to Berkeley, Dirks held leadership and academic roles at Columbia University and taught at the University of Michigan and California Institute of Technology.

Dirks earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. An accomplished author and scholar, Dirks has received numerous honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Foundation residential fellowship. Dirks is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Fire After Fire: The Global Wildfire Challenge and the Hidden Risks of Recovery

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