SMART FIRES Year 2 Highlights 2025 - Special Edition Newsletter
This special edition provides an overview of the SMART FIRES project’s second-year achievements, highlighting its interdisciplinary research on prescribed fire using sensors, AI, and community engagement. It showcases progress across it's four research thrusts, welcomes new team members, and recognizes early-career researchers. Broader impacts include a summer educator workshop at MSU and STEM outreach at the Powwow.
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Women in STEM feature: Jazzelle Elias
Where are you from? I was born in Southern California near Los Angeles and lived there until I was ten. I then moved to a small logging town called Sedro-Woolley in Western Washington where I stayed until I moved to Missoula, Montana, to begin my undergraduate degree. So half of my foundational years were spent in a very urban setting, and the other half in a vastly different environment. Talk about whiplash!
UM Smokevan Progress Report: Updated Insights From a Year of Field Deployments
Inside the University of Montana’s “Smokevan”: A Mobile Lab Transforming Prescribed Fire Smoke Research The Smokevan is deployed during a prescribed burn at Lubrecht Experimental Forest The Smokevan—a mobile air quality lab
SMART FIRES Engages Fifth Graders at MSU Family Science Day
Suzi Taylor challenges kids to figure out what triggers each toy sensor while one student watches drone footage of a prescribed burn The SMART FIRES booth drew steady crowds at Montana State University’s Family Science Day on February 5, 2026.
K–2 Scientific Sensing Curriculum Distributed to nearly 50 Montana Schools
A teacher from Denton Elementary unboxes the kit in her classroom The long-awaited K–2 Sensing for Science curriculum has now been distributed to Montana schools that requested it following an announcement of availability last November.
2025 Seed Awards
The SMART FIRES Research Seed Award Program provides funding to support innovative research projects that align with the goals of the SMART FIRES NSF EPSCoR initiative, which focuses on advancing technologies and understanding around prescribed fire and its impacts on Montana communities. Open to faculty at Montana State University and the University of Montana, the program offers awards of up to $25,000 to fund activities such as equipment purchases, personnel costs, field data collection, and collaborative research.
Women in STEM feature: Jazzelle Elias
Where are you from? I was born in Southern California near Los Angeles and lived there until I was ten. I then moved to a small logging town called Sedro-Woolley in Western Washington where I stayed until I moved to Missoula, Montana, to begin my undergraduate degree. So half of my foundational years were spent in a very urban setting, and the other half in a vastly different environment. Talk about whiplash!
UM Smokevan Progress Report: Updated Insights From a Year of Field Deployments
Inside the University of Montana’s “Smokevan”: A Mobile Lab Transforming Prescribed Fire Smoke Research The Smokevan is deployed during a prescribed burn at Lubrecht Experimental Forest The Smokevan—a mobile air quality lab
SMART FIRES Engages Fifth Graders at MSU Family Science Day
Suzi Taylor challenges kids to figure out what triggers each toy sensor while one student watches drone footage of a prescribed burn The SMART FIRES booth drew steady crowds at Montana State University’s Family Science Day on February 5, 2026.
K–2 Scientific Sensing Curriculum Distributed to nearly 50 Montana Schools
A teacher from Denton Elementary unboxes the kit in her classroom The long-awaited K–2 Sensing for Science curriculum has now been distributed to Montana schools that requested it following an announcement of availability last November.
2025 Seed Awards
The SMART FIRES Research Seed Award Program provides funding to support innovative research projects that align with the goals of the SMART FIRES NSF EPSCoR initiative, which focuses on advancing technologies and understanding around prescribed fire and its impacts on Montana communities. Open to faculty at Montana State University and the University of Montana, the program offers awards of up to $25,000 to fund activities such as equipment purchases, personnel costs, field data collection, and collaborative research.
$41M award to Montana Tech Hub
A regional technology hub focused on photonics and smart sensors, of which Montana State University is a founding member, will receive a $41 million federal grant to help create tech jobs across Montana.
Montana STEM Summit 2023 findings and next steps will be presented online Dec. 12
Key findings from the 2023 Montana STEM Summit will be shared in an online presentation on Tuesday, Dec.
Project Highlight: "The Future Isn't Written"
Dr. Arica Crootof of UM Western assists in a project surrounding effective communication about contamination and remediation efforts of the Warm Springs Ponds at the headwaters of the Clark Fork River.
New article from CREWS JRW Natural Resource Social Science team focuses on challenges rural communities face with public water systems
A recent publication from the Natural Resource Social Science team highlights the challenges facing rural communities in the arena of public water systems—namely, the locally-managed infrastructure that delivers domestic water to homes in settled areas like small towns and cities.
Online college simulation game introduces players to STEM concepts and pathways
The online learning game, Crash Course, is a virtual college simulation that introduces players to various STEM concepts and pathways.