California wildfires
Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Wildfires are an increasingly costly phenomenon in California and the western United States. UCLA has experts on the environmental and economic impacts, causes of wildfires and the health effects. Click an expert’s name for a more detailed biography and contact information.

Story: UCLA experts explain why California burns
Story: Expert Q&A: Air quality during and after wildfires



Jon Keeley

Keeley is an adjunct professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and an expert on the ecological impacts and history of wildfires in Southern California.

Glen MacDonald

MacDonald is the John Muir Endowed Chair in Geography at UCLA and an expert on the environmental consequences of climate change. He has focused in particular on water resources and drought and can comment on how drought has affected conditions that facilitate fires and their spread.


Santa Ana winds

Alex Hall

Hall is a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences and an expert on the frequency and intensity of Santa Ana winds.



Dr. Mark Morocco

Morocco is an associate clinical professor of emergency medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and an expert on the effects of breathing smoky air and how that affects respiratory health.

Dr. John Belperio

Belperio is an associate professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine and an expert on lung disease and pulmonary health and the harmful effects of smoke on the respiratory system.

Dr. Christopher Cooper

Cooper is professor of medicine and physiology and an expert on pulmonary health, he can comment on how fires affect a person’s lungs and respiratory system.

