Alex Zahara (he/him) is Project Facilitator of the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) Wildfire Resilience Initiative, conducted through PAGC Forestry and Emergency Protective Services. The Initiative began in 2021 with an Elders Gathering on wildfire and has continued through 2022 through the hiring and training of 10 youth Community Researchers from different PAGC member First Nations. Zahara is an interdisciplinary researcher and wildfire social scientist interested in mobilizing Science and Technology Studies, feminist, queer and anti-colonial theory within wildfire response. As a non-Indigenous researcher, his work aims to ensure wildfire science and response upholds sovereignty of Indigenous Nations to their lands and livelihoods.

Zahara has been trained as a Type 3 firefighter and was a member of Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR), a community-driven anti-colonial science lab from 2016-2022. From 2018 to 2022 he was collaborating editor of the academic blog Discard Studies. Zahara is completing his doctoral dissertation on wildfire response in northern Saskatchewan through Memorial University in Newfoundland. He currently lives in his home community of kistapinānihk or Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in Treaty 6 territory, the homeland of Dakota Oyáte and Métis Nation.

Oliver is a Bundjalung man from the Northern Rivers and has been actively engaged in Cultural Land Management projects. He believes strongly in the role of Aboriginal culture as a keystone to maintaining livelihoods, supporting identity, connection to Country and enabling healthy and regenerative communities to care for Country. Was an Indigenous Contributing Author to the Extreme Events Chapter of the 2021 State of Environment Report. Started the Firesticks Initiative and was a founding Director of both the Jagun Alliance Aboriginal Corporation and Firesticks Alliance Indigenous Corporation. Is a board director of the Natural Hazards Research Australia and Vice President of the Northern Rivers Fire and Biodiversity Consortium. Holds a Bachelor of Arts in Adult Education and Community Management from the University of Technology, Sydney and has a broad range of experience in Natural Cultural Resource management, cultural fire practices, Aboriginal Joint Management partnerships, Culturally significant species and threatened species management. Oliver works to support a range of research, policy, advocacy, education and on ground projects. He is passionate about Aboriginal leadership, empowerment, partnerships and recognition of cultural knowledge and practice.

Amanda Monthei is a writer, public information officer, podcast producer and former hotshot for the US Forest Service. After leaving operational fire in 2019, she figured the best way to evade the looming boredom/nostalgia of no longer fighting fire was to braid her love of storytelling with her passion for wildfire; since then, she has written about wildfire for a number of US magazines and newspapers, including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Outside Online, Deseret News and others. She also produces and hosts Life with Fire Podcast, which she created to help cultivate a greater public understanding of wildfire while exploring how we can better coexist with it in the future.

Amanda lives in Bellingham, WA, where she often juxtaposes writing/talking/thinking about wildfire with biking/skiing/fishing in the rain.

Dr. Lori Daniels is a Professor of Forest Ecology in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, where she
directs the Tree-Ring Lab at UBC. Lori investigates the impacts of natural and human disturbances and climate change on
forests. With her research team, she has on-going projects on wildfires, forest dynamics, and social-ecological resilience
to climate change across British Columbia. Her enduring partnerships with local, provincial, and national governments,
environmental organizations, forest management companies, community forests, and First Nations ensure her scientific
advances are translated to active conservation, restoration and management. She contributed to the Blueprint for
Wildland Fire Science in Canada and served as a member of the Canadian Wildfire Strategy Implementation Team and
the NSERC-Canada Wildfire Research Network. Since 2015, she has given more than 200 media interviews on wildfires
and their impacts on forests and communities. She is among the 150 Canadian Scientists recognized in 2017 for research
shaping new frontiers and making our world a better place (#150Scientists). She was acknowledged as a Women Leader
in international fire science research in 2018, received the 2019 Canadian Institute of Forestry Scientific Achievement
Award and 2022 James J. Parsons Distinguished Career in Biogeography Award from the American Association of
Geographers.