Doors: 6:30 PM
Showtime: 7:00 PM
With fire seasons growing more destructive and more deadly, we see that our approach to reducing wildfire risk is failing. The way we respond to this risk will have long-term effects on our communities and our forests.
Join us for the Boulder Colorado premiere of ELEMENTAL, a film that invites you to reimagine your relationship with wildfire through the eyes of top scientists and indigenous fire managers who are leading the way toward living with this essential element.
Stay after the movie for a discussion and Q&A session with the fire experts including University of Colorado’s very own Dr. Tania Schoennagel, who appears in the film.
About ELEMENTAL
In the wake of recent fires across the West, filmmakers Trip Jennings, Sara Quinn, and Ralph Bloemers took to the air and the ground to help communities make sense of what is happening – and what we can do to prepare for more fire on the land. Their work led to a deep investigation of wildfire in a hotter, drier, more crowded world, and includes wildfires that burned across millions of acres and destroyed numerous communities.
Five years in the making, Elemental is the product of their journey across the United States and into fire affected communities. Produced and edited in Oregon, Narrated by David Oyelowo (Emmy & Golden Globe Nominee), supported by National Geographic and Patagonia.
Panelists:
Tania Schoennagel has been a wildfire scientist at the University of Colorado-Boulder for almost 20 years. She has examined the interaction of climate, wildfire and insect outbreaks in western forests, and assessed the effect of forest management and adaptation of communities to wildfire resilience. Tania has provided testimony to Congress and the Colorado legislature, her work has been covered by national print and radio outlets, and she has contributed to documentaries on wildfire and climate change. She worked at the USFS Fire Sciences Lab, received a Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin, and attended Dartmouth College.
Rodrigo Moraga
Principal Technology Architect- Precisely Software Solutions (2021-Present).
Former CEO, Anchor Point Group LLC. Wildfire Consulting. (1999-2021).
Rod has 30+ years of experience in Natural Resource Management focusing on combining advanced fire behavior modeling and sound forest management practices to enhance ecosystem health, while mitigating the Wildland-Urban Interface fire threat.
He is currently the Chairperson of the Colorado Prescribed Fire Council. He serves on the Boulder County Type 3 Team as Operations Chief and on the Rocky Mountain Critical Incident Management Team as a Fire Behavior Analyst. He is also a volunteer firefighter with the Lefthand Fire Protection District.
Ralph Bloemers
For nearly two decades, Ralph has advised community-based conservation groups, recreation clubs and citizens throughout the Pacific Northwest on the conservation of our forests, including burned landscapes. Over the past five years he has investigated the causes of fires, documented wildlife in burned landscapes, volunteers his time to rebuild trails in fire burned areas and spent time in these forests with firefighters, expert scientists and ecologists. Ralph has helped the public, decision makers and students confront the dominant cultural beliefs about fires, and understand the paradoxes that mark our relationship with it.
This program is supported with funding from the generous bequest of Betsy Hitchcock.