Summary
Why do we need robots to fight the fires?
After more than one million years, humans remain the only species to have harnessed fire’s enormous power and learned to control it for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes.
And yet, we find ourselves at the mercy of unprecedented bush and wildfires which continue to devastate land, lives and livelihoods in Australia and around the globe. The situation is set to escalate with the changing climate. Is this heat-driven enemy part of our new reality?
Our panel of environmental experts look to the past, present and future for ways to survive the current ‘Pyrocene’. How can we combine the knowledge and skills of traditional owners with cutting-edge technologies such as satellites, artificial intelligence and drones to protect our sunburnt country? Can we truly disrupt the battle of the blazes?
Released online 24 March, 2021 at 9am
FEATURING
Stephen Pyne
Stephen Pyne
Stephen Pyne is a former wildland firefighter who has written widely about fire history and management. His books include fire histories for Australia, Canada, Europe, and the U.S. with small...
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Hugh Possingham
Hugh Possingham
Professor Possingham is a conservation scientist and mathematician who completed his PhD at Oxford in 1987 as a Rhodes Scholar and was most recently the Chief Scientist at The Nature...
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Ruth Luscombe
Ruth Luscombe
Dr Ruth Luscombe is a mathematician and data scientist working on early bushfire detection. She has nearly 20 years of experience in project management, machine learning, programming, and solution development...
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Victor Steffensen
Victor Steffensen
Victor Steffensen is an Indigenous writer, filmmaker, musician and consultant applying traditional knowledge in a contemporary context. He is a descendant of the Tagalaka people in north Queensland. Much of...
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