Critical Decision Making in Wildland Fire: Demystifying Intuition with the Recognition-Primed Decision Making Model

What perceptual cues are experienced wildland fire leaders at the field-level identifying and responding to under extreme time constraints and situational uncertainty? In this talk, I will introduce and discuss the Recognition-Primed Decision Model and its role in shaping wildland firefighter training and its utility for high-risk, high-pressure decision-making.

About the Speaker

The speaker standing in a forest with wildland firefighting equipment
Oliver Simic
WWU ENVS MA candidate, Geography focus

I’ve been a jack-of-all trades throughout my adult life; working as a farm hand, carpenter, soil scientist, arborist, university emergency manager, and a wildland firefighter for the US Forest Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management. Currently, I’m exploring the decision making processes of the Recognition-Primed Decision Making Model through my graduate studies at Western Washington University within the Environmental Studies Department.

Environmental Speaker Series

The Environmental Speaker Series is hosted by the College of the Environment at Western Washington University.

The Series is free and open to the public. Talks are held each Thursday at 4:30 pm in Academic Instructional Center West room 204 - AW-204. Talks will also be streamed via Zoom. Register with The Foundation for WWU & Alumni for the zoom link. Parking is available in lot C.

Learn more about the Environmental Speaker Series


Subscribe to the Email List