Matthew Reilly, a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station, will review John Vaillant’s Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World for this month’s Random Review at the library.
Set for 12 pm, Wednesday, June 11 at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library’s Main Meeting Room, the program will also be streamed live. You can click here to attend online.
About the book
As wildfires once again rage in the Canadian province of Alberta, this book could not be more timely. It tells the harrowing story of the 2016 wildfire that led to the evacuation of more than 88,000 residents of Fort McMurray in Alberta. That fire, dubbed “The Beast,” reportedly was hotter than the surface of Venus and created its own weather patterns. Vaillant, who lives in Vancouver, B.C., explores factors that led to the fire including climate change and a history of environmental damage in the province.
Fire Weather was a New York Times top 10 book of 2023, and a finalist for that year’s Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and PEN/Galbraith Award.
About the reviewer
Forest ecologist Matt Reilly received his doctorate from OSU in 2015, and spent two years as a post-doc at Humboldt State University. His current work for the Pacific Northwest Research Station, which is based in Portland, uses remote sensors and field work to study forest vegetation’s response to disturbances, particularly fire and climate change. Originally from Massachusetts, he holds degrees from the University of Vermont and University of Georgia. He lives outside Corvallis with his wife and 2-year old son.
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