"Dr. Nina Fontana is a researcher at the University of California Davis in collaboration with USGS Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. Her research focuses on cultural burning and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in forest-dependent communities. She is passionate about centering essential stewardship practices in environmental policy and helping support tribal sovereignty, stewardship, and climate change mitigation.

In February 2024, Nina participated in a series of policy engagement workshops in Washington, DC facilitated by COMPASS and the Federation of American Scientists. The series was designed to help wildland fire experts communicate important aspects of their work to journalists and policymakers, including putting their skills to work during congressional staff meetings on Capitol Hill. In this post, she joins COMPASS’s Bob Crimian to reflect on her experience in the training, how she’s building on the skills she learned, and why it’s important to bring research back to communities and policy."

View the full video at COMPASS Science Communication