Associate Professor Peter Nelson did not plan to research wildfires when he accepted a faculty position with CSU in 2012. Yet, a few months before his faculty position began, the High Park fire in Larimer County would change that. Nelson was in Italy at the University of Genoa serving as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow when the devastating wildfire presented an opportunity to combine his background in sediment transport with one of his student’s interest in studying the impact of wildfires.

On June 26, 2023, CBS News Colorado interviewed Nelson about the ongoing impact the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome wildfires of 2020 had on the region. He noted the burn scars left in the wake of the fires were prone to landslides due to the removal of vegetation and increased surface runoff.

The Cameron Peak fire burned up to the continental divide, a rarity for fires to burn at such high elevations where the water content is predominantly in the form of snow. Nelson is part of a group researching the longer-term impact of fires across elevations, with the goal of better understanding the potential and observed impacts of fire on different snow zones at different elevations.

To access the full CBS News Colorado article and interview video, please visit: https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/historic-colorado-wildfires-2020-still-threatening-communities-rivers/