Alexandra ‘Ali’ Stefancich is a Community Education Specialist at the University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resource’s Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center (SFREC). Ali has been at SFREC for over three years and in that time has developed all-new youth science-education programs that now serve over 1,500 local students a year. Run with the help of a team of dedicated volunteers, these programs give students a chance to get out in the field and do hands-on science. Ali loves being involved in environmental education because she loves young people and nature and hopes that her programs will help connect students to their local ecosystems and increase their understanding and enjoyment of science. She is excited to be a part of the ee360 Fellowship for the opportunity to learn from so many innovators in the field and to apply that increased expertise towards building youth fire-science education programming at her site. Ali has always loved spending time outside, playing with plants and animals, which lead her to pursue a degree in Ecology at The Evergreen State College. Since graduating, Ali has worked at a variety of nonprofits doing restoration, environmental monitoring, and, of course teaching young people about nature. In her free time, Ali enjoys going on outdoor adventures, spending time with loved ones, making silly crafts, and hanging out with her awesome cat, Libby.

About Ali‘s ee360 Community Action Project

Catastrophic wildfires have become an ever-increasing problem in California due to decades of fire suppression and changes in climate. In an effort to address this problem, Ali has adopted a wildfire science and preparedness education program. This multifaceted program includes the adaptation of the FireWorks Curriculum to local Northern California Oak Woodlands including developing and integrating Native Californian's traditional use of fire as a land management tool and cultural significance. The Fireworks Curriculum is being used for teacher training, classroom visits, and field days. Additionally, Ali and her team are developing an Advanced California Naturalist training focusing on understanding wildfire and prescribed fire; and fostering the support of local Fire Safe Council's outreach effort toward building communities resilience to wildfire risks. The aim of this project is to foster wise land management decision making among our local communities to create resilience to caastrophic wildfire and to help shift thinking around the importance of fire in the local ecosystems.