Wildland Fire Modeling and Simulation Special

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Salt Lake City, UT, US

2 days ago Requisition

Company Background

Red Castle Resources is a progressive, employee-friendly company providing geospatial and information technology support to natural resource management agencies throughout the country and around the world. We specialize in the analysis of remote sensing, ecological, and other geospatial data, focusing on technical expertise and communicating with natural resource managers and other subject matter experts. The majority of our staff provide support through contracts with the USDA Forest Service, assisting National Forests, Regional and Washington Offices, USFS Research, International Programs, and partner federal agencies to use advanced geospatial data and technology for improved mapping, inventorying, and monitoring of natural resources.

Position Description

The Modeling and Simulation Specialist (Wildland Fire) will serve as key personnel on the Red Castle Resources team, leading advanced wildland fire behavior modeling, wildfire transmission analysis, and quantitative risk assessments for the USDA Forest Service and partner federal agencies. The successful candidate will apply state-of-the-art wildfire simulation systems (such as FSim, Flam Map, and FARSITE) to execute landscape-level risk evaluations, evaluate fuel treatment effectiveness, and model potential fire impacts on High-Valued Resources and Assets (HVRAs) across diverse forest and rangeland ecosystems.

This individual will integrate remote sensing, terrain, weather/climate, and fuels data into robust spatial models and quantitative response functions. Additionally, this position may occasionally develop and deliver training to adult learners and natural resource specialists on topics including wildland fire behavior modeling, spatial risk assessment methodologies, and integration of fire data into forest management planning. Occasional field work or travel is required.

Key Responsibilities & Qualifications

The successful candidate will demonstrate strong technical expertise in wildland fire science, spatial modeling, and natural resource management.

The following characteristics and qualifications are required:

• Education & Experience:
  • Master’s degree or Ph.D. in fire ecology, forestry, wildland fire science, or a closely related natural resources field with at least 5 years of professional experience;
    OR
  • Bachelor’s degree in a related field with at least 10 years of specialized experience.
• Direct, demonstrated experience applying advanced wildfire simulation systems—specifically FSim (Fire Simulator)—for quantitative wildfire risk assessments (QWRAs) following USDA Forest Service General Technical Reports (e.g., RMRS-GTR-315).
• Proficiency with additional fire behavior and spatial modeling tools (e.g., Flam Map, FARSITE, Behave Plus, IFTDSS).
• Personal and professional interest in natural resources and the application of geospatial technologies to fire and fuels management problems.
• Strong experience with geospatial and statistical software, particularly Google Earth Engine (GEE), ArcGIS (Pro/Enterprise), R, and Python (including spatial/data analysis libraries like geopandas, rasterio, numpy).
• Solid background in landscape ecology, vegetation dynamics, wildland fuel characterization, and field sampling methods.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including technical writing for agency reporting and executive summaries.
• Aptitude and willingness to successfully communicate complex modeling results and teach fire science concepts to resource specialists and adult learners.

Successful candidates must be self-motivated, demonstrate initiative, be able to work independently, collaborate effectively with interdisciplinary resource teams, and adapt to changing client priorities.

Salary & Benefits

Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. This key personnel position offers a generous benefits package which includes health and dental insurance, company matching 401(k) and profit sharing, long- and short-term disability insurance, and paid vacation and holidays.

• health and dental insurance
• company matching 401(k) and profit sharing
• long- and short-term disability insurance
• paid vacation and holidays

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