Erin Banwell - Co-Director of Fire Management

Erin is the Co-Director of Fire Management for The Watershed Research and Training Center. Her main duties include cooperative prescribed fire planning, capacity building, and prescribed fire implementation. She works on burn planning, fostering partnerships, and providing mentorship and technical assistance to a wide range of partner organizations, landowners, and fire service agencies. She is also a Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) Coach and has attended TREX events all across the United States (CA, CO, NM, KS, NE, OK, SD, FL) and in Portugal.

Erin has a diverse mixture of work experience from a variety of natural resource jobs, including work as an environmental NEPA planner, researcher, prescribed fire and fuels specialist, and ecologist in the academic, private, non-profit, and governmental sectors. Erin obtained Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Humboldt State University in Forestry and Natural Resources, with emphases in Fire Ecology and Wildland Fire Management.

Erin is currently qualified as CARX, PSC3, RXB3, ENGB, FIRB, ICT5, FEMO, READ, and REAF. She is actively working on her ICT4. Erin loves burning in new ecosystems, gardening, fermenting food, hiking, and exploring beautiful Trinity County with her husband and son.

Email Erin: firemanagement@thewatershedcenter.com