John Y. Choe, Deputy Director of the Center for Disaster Resilient Communities and Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at University of Washington, was selected for the NCAR Faculty Innovator Program 2026–2028 cohort. His project, ACE‑FIRES: AI‑ and Co‑production–Enabled Fire Intelligence for Resource‑Efficient Suppression, reflects the program’s goal of supporting transformative, interdisciplinary research that advances environmental resilience.
This year’s competition drew 167 initial applications, representing a remarkable breadth of expertise and ambition. From this pool, only 17 faculty members were invited to participate in the Ideas Lab—an intensive, collaborative workshop designed to spark innovative thinking and cross‑disciplinary partnerships.
As communities across the United States face increasingly severe and frequent wildfires, the need for smarter, more adaptive fire‑management strategies has never been more urgent. Dr. Choe’s ACE‑FIRES project aims to integrate artificial intelligence with co‑production approaches—bringing together researchers and practitioners—to generate actionable fire intelligence that supports more efficient and effective suppression efforts. By combining cutting‑edge technology with collaborative design, the project seeks to enhance decision‑making, reduce resource strain and ultimately improve outcomes for both people and ecosystems.
The NSF NCAR Faculty Innovator Program’s 2026–2028 cohort includes five awardees whose work spans climate science, hydrology, energy systems and national resilience. Alongside Dr. Choe, this year’s recipients are:
- Nasrin Alamdari, Florida State University
- Michael Craig, University of Michigan
- Carol Friedland, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center
- Beth Tellman, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Each project reflects the program’s commitment to fostering bold ideas that address some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.