Meet the WFM RD&A Staff

Greg Dillon is a geographer and ecologist with 25 years in the US Forest Service. In his regular job, he is the Director of the Fire Modeling Institute, part of the Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Fire, Fuel, and Smoke Science Program. Greg’s career has included stints in Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Wyoming, and Washington, but he’s been happy to call Missoula, Montana home for the past 20 years. He’s been a contributor to national data products such as LANDFIRE, the national Wildfire Hazard Potential map, and the suite of Wildfire Risk to Communities datasets. In the incident management world, he served several years on a Northern Rockies IMT as a GIS Specialist and Situation Unit Leader, worked as a coordinator on the Remote Incident Support Team, and served on the NWCG Geospatial Subcommittee. He has a master’s degree in Geography from the University of Wyoming, a bachelor’s in Geography from James Madison University, and is a certified Senior Wildland Fire Ecologist with the Association for Fire Ecology. Away from work, Greg enjoys running and floating rivers in the summer, skiing and playing hockey in winter, and making music anytime. He and his wife can often be found attending performances of their two young adult daughters who are both pursuing their dreams of being professional dancers.

Erin Noonan-Wright is currently detailed to the WFM RDA as the deputy program manager. She works for the U.S. Forest Service Northern Rockies Geographic Area (NRGA) as a Predictive Services fire analyst.  She supports longer duration wildfires with decision support analytics for the NRGA and works with the U.S Forest Service regional office to use analytics to answer complex problems involving wildfire planning and response.  She formerly worked with the WFM RDA from 2009 to 2022 as a fire management specialist in various roles.  She finished her Ph.D. in Forestry from the University of Montana in 2019 with the Fire Center, working on a project that explored perceptions of risk as documented in the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS).  In her free time (there is no free time), she enjoys doing her other full-time job which is parenting. 

Nicole first worked with the Forest Service as a seasonal employee working as a wildland firefighter, botanist, and plot-shot in northern California. After a few seasons, she got a permanent position as a fire ecologist first with the USFS Adaptive Management Services Enterprise Team (AMSET), then later with WWETAC at the Pacific Northwest Research Station. Nicole joined the WFM RD&A in 2017 where she has worked on both IFTDSS and the FMSF. Her background is in characterizing fire behavior at multiple scales, fuel treatment effectiveness, quantitative wildfire risk, and supporting software development of fuels management tools. She received her B.S. in Evolution and Ecology from the University of California, Davis and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from the University of California, Berkeley. Outside of work, Nicole enjoys spending time outdoors, running, biking, swimming, hiking, camping, snow sports and traveling with her husband and dogs.

Morgan Pence - Lead Fire Application Specialist, Salem, OR

Morgan earned her B.S. in Ecology and Conservation Biology and her Masters in Natural Resources from the University of Idaho. She joined the Forest Service as a seasonal firefighter in 2000 on the Salmon-Challis N.F. She has worked on helitack, engines, and handcrews. She accepted a permanent position on the Plumas N.F. in fire ecology in 2003. In 2005 she joined the National Interagency Fuels Technology Team (NIFTT) doing a variety of duties but mainly helping coordinate training courses on fuels/fire GIS tools. She joined the Wildland Fire Management RD&A team in the fall of 2009 and works in support of fire decisions and documentation with fire behavior and economic assessment tools.

Sam Amato began his career with Rocky Mountain National Park as a seasonal firefighter, then moving on the Gila National Forest, Wilderness District as an Assistant Suppression Foreman. After Completing a Masters Degree in Fire Ecology at Colorado State University, Sam worked as a Fire Application Specialist for the Forest Service Southwest Regional Office. Sam began working with the Wildland Fire Decision Support System in 2007, and helped with the initial implementation of WFDSS for the Southwest Region of the Forest Service. In late 2009 Sam began working for WFM RD&A as a Fire Application Specialist. Currently Sam works in several focus areas of the WFM RD&A, including Fuels, Technology Transfer, and Decision Support. Sam is qualified as an; ENGB, FIRB, FEMO and is a LTAN. During fire season the majority of Sam's time is spent in remote and onsite wildland fire support. In his off time Sam enjoys spending time with his children, snowboarding, hiking, bouldering, biking, hunting, fishing, and gardening.

Kim Ernstrom began her fire career on the Bridger-Teton NF as a seasonal in 1993 after completing a bachelor’s degree in Geography and Geology. She has worked in fire management in eight different states throughout her career. Positions with the US Forest Service, the National Park Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nature Conservancy have provided a broad perspective on fire management. Titles such as Helicopter Crewmember, Hotshot Foreman, Prescribed Fire Specialist, Prescribed Fire Training Center Coordinator, Fire Management Officer and Fire Application Specialist round out Kim’s resume. While enjoying summers as a fire fighter Kim received her Masters Degree in Earth Science at Montana State University in 1999 completing a thesis on the “Fire effects of the 1988 fires on headwater stream systems in Yellowstone National Park”. Kim has lived in Boise since 2010 when she began her current position as a Fire Application Specialist with the Wildland Fire Management RD&A.  Her primary focus includes teaching advanced fire behavior applications (S590), long term fire planning, decision support and is currently one of 4 technical leads in developing the Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS). Kim has a career interest and passion in technology transfer and training our fire management workforce, especially in fuels management and fire behavior. Gardening, Mountain biking, skiing, whitewater kayaking and rafting the rivers of Idaho and beyond are what keeps Kim happy outside of work.

Bre is a Fire Technology Transfer Specialist working out of Grand Marais, Minnesota. Her primary area of focus working for the WFM RD&A is leading the development and tech transfer of the Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS). She also continues to develop skills assisting on wildfires as a Long Term Analyst (LTAN). Bre started her career with the Forest Service in 1997 and worked in a variety of seasonal wildland fire positions on the Kaibab, Willamette, and Superior National Forests. She accepted a permanent position on the Superior National Forest in 2002 and spent about 14 years there working in fuels management. Bre worked as a Fuels Technician for several years before accepting the Zone Fire Management Specialist position in 2012. She has detailed into the Regional Fuels Specialist position for Region 9 and worked as a Fire Management Specialist for the WFM RD&A in a short term detail in 2015 before joining the staff permanently in 2016. She received her B.S. in Natural Resource Management from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin and her Masters in Natural Resource Management with certificates in Restoration Ecology and Fire Ecology, Management, and Technology from the University of Idaho. Outside of work, Bre enjoys spending time with her husband and two young daughters cross country skiing, boating, swimming, running, hiking, and reading.

Amanda Rumsey has been selected as a data scientist for the Division of Fire and Aviation’s Information Technology & Resource Management (ITRM) Branch. From 2016-2021, Amanda served as a geographer within the U.S. Census Bureau. Within the Geography Division, Amanda specialized in utilizing geospatial tools to update the MAF/TIGER System and to evaluate decennial operations. In 2022, she took on a new role within the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer as a management analyst. NPS ITRM branch chief, Erik Torres-Jacquez stated, "Amanda's business acumen and analytical skills will allow the wildland fire community to source, manage, and analyze data that will drive strategic decision-making within our organizations. We are excited to welcome Amanda to the data scientist position." We are excited to have Amanda join the WFMRDA team as well.

Wes is a LTAN and the chair of the Fire Environment Continuing Education Subcommittee. Previously, he was a  Forest Fire Planner on the Coconino National Forest from 2009-2018 and a Forest Fuels Assistant Fire Management Officer on the Lincoln National Forest from 2018-2022. Currently, Wes is the product owner for the development of the Next Generation of WFDSS and co-lead for the development of the Interagency Spatial Fire Planning Service.

Tederell J. Boyer, also known as “T.J.”, has been the Intelligence Coordinator for the Southern Area Coordination Center since 2017. He worked as a Fire Ecologist between 2011 through 2016 at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. Originally from Fort Valley, GA, T.J. received his Bachelor of Science degree in Soil Science from Fort Valley State University (FVSU), and a second Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Science from Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU).  T.J. obtained firefighting experiences by working and completing a season with the Cherokee Hotshots, Asheville Hotshots, and through multiple fire assignments on engines. As a dispatcher he has completed multiple assignments in different geographic areas as an Intelligence Support (INTS), Expanded Dispatch Recorder (EDRC), and Expanded Dispatch Support Dispatcher (EDSD). He enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter. TJ joins the WFMRDA in a Fire Application Specialist position and will work from Atlanta, GA.

Susan McClendon is a GIS specialist with the National Park Service’s Branch of Wildland Fire. Her undergraduate degree is in computer science and she has a Masters Degree in GIS from Penn State University. She has a broad background in programming, information technology, and geographic information systems. Susan has worked for WYDOT as a GIS Developer, the University of Wyoming as a GIS Systems Specialist with concentration on ESRI Enterprise implementations, and in private industry working with utilities and energy companies to implement decision support systems for disaster response. Susan began her federal service as a seasonal GIS Tech for Grand Teton National Park. She later moved to northern Wyoming and a position with the BLM as a GIS Specialist for the High Desert District where she began to work in wildland fire as a GISS Trainee. Some of Susan’s specific focus areas have been working on data service coordination, data acquisition, data standards development, and analysis needs of the interagency wildland fire community. She assists in meeting data and system development needs for the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS), WFDSS NextGen, and Interagency Fuel Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS). Susan works from Grand Teton National Park in Moose, WY where her partner also works. In their downtime, they enjoy fishing, camping, and live music, as well as their young dog Spud.

Rick grew up in Spokane and Omaha, but moved back west to live among mountains again. He holds a B.S. in Forestry from Utah State University, with time spent studying in Joensuu, Finland and Petrozavodsk, Russia. His Forest Service career started in 1997 in Ogden Utah on a data collection crew covering 3 forests in northern Utah and western Wyoming. He has worked on handcrews and engines, as a fuels tech, AFMO, and Fire Ecologist. He comes to the RDA from a zone Fire Ecologist/Fuels Planner position on the Fremont-Winema N.F. and primary focus is on WFDSS O&M and decision support. Outside of work, Rick enjoys camping and rock hounding with his wife, woodworking armored medieval combat, and managing his new property in Michigan.

Wendy started her career in 1999 working as a recreation seasonal for the Willamette National Forest. In 2000 she accepted a Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) position in fire with the Prineville BLM. Since that time, she has worked on type 2 hand crews, hot shots, wildland fire modules, and helitack. She has also spent nearly seven years working in fuels as a Fuels Technician, Fuels AFMO, and most recently a District Fuels Planner. While in the SCEP program, she completed a bachelor’s degree in Forest Recreation Management from Oregon State University and a master’s degree in Forest Resources/ Fire Ecology from University of Idaho. She continues her passion for learning as a graduate student in Oregon State University’s Geography Department working toward a graduate certificate in GIS. Outside of work she spends her time with her husband and two whippets (Speedy and Willow) hiking, biking, and running the trails in Central Oregon. 

Sarah comes to the RDA after serving as the Hazardous Fuels Management Specialist/ Fire Ecologist for the Rocky Mountain Region outside of Denver, Colorado since 2015. Sarah started her career with the Forest Service in 2001 as a District Forester – within the first 6 months, someone handed her a drip torch and the rest is history! After 4 years of working to integrate fuels objectives into vegetation management activities, she took the leap and moved full time into an engine operator position to better understand how fire “worked”. Before heading to the Regional Office, Sarah worked across 4 regions on engines, as a dozer operator, Wildfire Use module assistant superintendent (when that’s what they were called!) and served as a District AFMO-fuels. Sarah hopes to always be a “student of fire” and enjoys the intricacies of NEPA, WFDSS and fire behavior modeling. She shares her home in the Colorado front range with her husband, Scott, and their 3 furry friends, Tsuga, Massey and Kiszka. 
 

Jonah was born and raised in Missoula, MT where he graduated with a B.S. in Forestry at the University of Montana. He started his career in Fire Management at 18 years old with the MT state DNRC, moved over to the Forest Service in Idaho to help establish the Selway Type 1 Wildland Fire Module and then back to Western Montana. After 15 years in Primary Fire he moved into Fuels as a Fuels Specialist on the Bitterroot NF. Throughout his tenure in Fire Management he was constantly dabbling in GIS and Technology Transfer with the goal of improving wildland fire response. To this day, his favorite qualification is Type 3 Planning Section Chief. The transition into WFMRD&A in 2023 seems like a perfect fit. He still resides in Missoula and enjoys rafting, ice hockey, and adventuring with his wife Shannon and pup Tica. 
 

Beth Buchanan comes to WFMRDA from USFS Region 8, where she had been the Regional Fire Ecologist for most of her career. In that position, she focused on monitoring, teaching and science delivery, and collaboration. Beth designed and managed the Forest Service’s only region-wide fire effects monitoring effort. As part of that, she has taught field and virtual monitoring and data analysis courses. She also helps teach and coordinate Rx310 and M580 among other NWCG classes. Promoting fire science at all levels and across boundaries is important to Beth and she has been actively involved with three of JFSP’s fire science exchanges as well as Fire Learning Networks across the southern US. Additionally, she helped bring science to her region’s RT300 Burn Boss Refresher, which in R8 morphed into a 3-day interagency training event with more than 400 attendees. In this position, Beth will be focusing on the FTEM software. She looks forward to taking a deep dive into the program, as well as expanding her network by functioning as a liaison with researchers interested in the data this software produces. Outside of work, she enjoys training and showing her two horses. She and her husband keep busy with their two daughters and a grandbaby, plus all the chores associated with farm life. 
 

Heidi is born and raised in Montana. She grew up in central Montana where she started working for the Forest Service. She fought fire through college where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Heidi continued to fight fire after college for a total of 13 years on Engines, Hotshots and Helicopters and eventually accepted a permanent position. In 2017 she and her husband started a family and decided to transition out of fire, as her husband was also in primary fire. Since then she has completed several details and finally landed a position at the Fire Lab in Missoula. Heidi still has a strong interest in the fire community and hopes to continue to be involved as much as family and work allows. Heidi is currently a Lead for the RMRS and R1 CISM Teams, a Comprehensive Wellbeing and Resilience Champion, an R1 Safety and Wellness Team Member, a Wilderness First Responder, a This is Who We Are instructor, a Bystander Intervention Training instructor, and a licensed sUAS Pilot.  Her hobbies include anything outdoors, primarily running, hiking and rafting, spending time with her family, and producing art as a pass time. 
 

K.C. is a Fire Technology Transfer Specialist working out of Boise, Idaho for the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) at NIFC. His role has split responsibilities between JFSP and the WFM RD&A.  Like other RD&A staff, K.C. will serve as a conveenor for opportunities to leverage fire science research opportunities with the Wildland Fire community.

K.C. wouldn’t classify his career experience as traditional. He began his federal career serving in the US Air Force working as an Avionics Electrician Technician working on the F15 fighter jet. Later after the military, K.C. worked for the BLM’s Remote Automated Weather Systems (RAWS) group at NIFC. He had the opportunity to work on every BLM and FS district in the US. Also, he assisted with Fire Weather support for Type 1 and 2 management teams nationwide each summer. In 2017 K.C. accepted a position as an Outdoor Recreation planner in Winnemucca, NV where he served as a Wilderness Specialist managing over 5 million acres of Wilderness and assisted on the Special Recreation Permit for the Burningman event. Later, he worked as a Fire Management Specialist for the Fuels program implementing projects for the district and managing the post fire restoration program. K.C. has also worked as a Fire Planner for the Upper Colorado River Fire Management Unit in Grand Junction, Colorado. Previous to his current position, K.C. worked as the Fuels Program Manager for the Battle Mountain BLM District in Nevada managing the Fuels, Weeds, Forestry, and post fire restoration programs for the 10 million acre district, treating over 30,000 acres annually.

Just like his work experience, K.C has demonstrated, and still shows a passion for lifelong learning. K.C. completed his Bachelor of Applied Science from Boise State University in 2006 combining environmental science, communications, and electronics principles. While serving in the Air Force, he completed his Masters of Science in Environmental Management studying the environmental policies that shape many of our federal organizations today. Currently, he is completing additional graduate work in Natural Resource Management at Utah State University and expects to graduate this year.

In his free time, K.C. enjoys the outdoors with his family and two dogs, hiking, trail running, Portland Timbers soccer, and helping out in his local community through serving on his Neighborhood Association.

Patrick lives near Grand Marais, MN and previously worked as a Zone FMO for the Superior N.F. Before that position he was a Fuels Specialist for the East Zone of the Superior N.F, a Fire Suppression Specialist at the Alaska Fire Service, and worked on the Black Hills Fire Use Module. Summer free time is spent either biking or on the lake with his wife and two kids. He spends his winter cross country skiing.