Disaster Management major, Wildland Firefighting minor Come to Paul Smith’s

From the Fall 2019 issue of Sequel

Paul Smith’s College recently introduced a new bachelor’s degree in Disaster Management and Response, reflecting a growing demand for professionals tasked with responding to natural and man-made disasters around the world. The new program followed the creation of a Wildland Firefighting minor.

Global phenomena including droughts, floods, wildfires, hurricanes and earthquakes impact some 60 million people annually, and in 2018 killed some 11,000. Students majoring in the program will have the opportunity to receive practical training in courses offered in partnership with the FEMA Emergency Management Institute, and over 20 electives are available, including swift water rescue, wildland fire ecology, and community disaster resilience planning.

“As a proud alumnus and emergency management professional, I congratulate Paul Smith’s College on the addition of the B.S. in Disaster Management and Response degree,” said New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Region Five Forest Ranger Captain John Streiff. “The need for trained professionals in emergency management roles is a growing priority in today’s changing world. With the addition of this program, Paul Smith’s College is ensuring students are equipped with the knowledge, training, and tools necessary to succeed in these roles.”

Graduates of the program can expect a number of different career path opportunities, from crisis response project manager to incident commander. According to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, these fields are growing at 8 percent, several percentage points higher than the national average.

Meanwhile, the Wildland Firefighting minor includes an Incident Qualification Card, commonly known as a red card and a key certification for those pursuing work in the field. Coursework specific to the minor includes tree felling and chainsaw techniques. The curriculum was developed in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), whose experts contributed to course design and teach classes that lead to the red card certification.

One of those instructors is Scott Sabo, a 2009 Paul Smith’s graduate, current forest ranger, and someone who has also worked fighting wildland fires in the west.

“This new minor is much more than an extension of the Forestry program,” said Sabo. “It pairs well with other academic majors and teaches meaningful skills such as leadership and risk management. This is not theoretical: When your job is to go out and build a fireline, lives are at stake.”

As outlined by Sabo, the program is structured to go beyond the necessary hard skills and include the ecological and technological underpinnings to enter wildland firefighting careers. Entry-level firefighters earn approximately $40,000 over the course of a six-month season, making the profession especially attractive to new graduates.

Over $1 billion is spent annually to combat wildfires and employment has jumped over 10 percent in just over a decade. Paul Smith’s, meanwhile, has trained wildland firefighters since the late 1940s and has seen a number of alumni join the ranks since.

“We have a long history of producing elite wildland firefighters including forest rangers, hotshots, and smokejumpers,” said Dr. Brett McLeod, professor and chair of the college’s Forestry department. “This minor offers formal training in fire science while also giving students the hard skills and federally recognized credentials to join a fire crew.”