Mitch's Research

Research Interests

Fire disturbs a greater area over a wider variety of biomes than any other natural disturbance.
My research interests are understanding the linkages among fire, climate, and vegetation during
the late Quaternary period. I have conducted research projects in the western United States:
the Sierra Nevada, Rocky Mountains of Montana, and Yellowstone National Park that examine
the role of climate variability in controlling changes in vegetation and fire regimes during the
last several thousand years. Currently, I am involved in a cross-project initiative on Palaeofires
through the QUEST-Deglaciation Theme 2 project based at the University of Bristol with additional
sponsoring from the IGBP Fast-Track Initiative on Fire. This project is creating a global charcoal
database from charcoal-based fire history studies. The ultimate goal is to compare global patterns
in fire regimes with model simulations thereby improving our understanding of global climate change,
vegetation response, and changing fire regimes during the past and into the future.