Aaron Kimple

SWERI Program Director of Cross-Boundary Fire and Fuel Treatment Assessments and Application

Aaron Kimple is the Program Director of Cross-Boundary Fire and Fuel Treatment Assessments and Application with the Southwest Ecological Restoration Institutes (SWERI). Aaron oversees projects funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which focus on cross-boundary fire and fuel treatment assessments and application. The program includes compiling and managing geospatial data for federally funded fuels treatment projects as well as wildfires occurring across jurisdictions; coordinating and facilitating use of these data in assessing, planning, and monitoring fuel treatment interactions with wildfires; and reporting fuel treatment effectiveness to SWERI agency partners, Congress and other affected entities and partners.

Aaron comes to the SWERI from the Mountain Studies Institute in Colorado and has an extensive background in environmental consulting, project management, and collaborative restoration. He has worked extensively with tribes, elected officials and their staff, private landowners, NGOs, and agency staff and leadership.

Aaron has been a leader in various complex collaborative projects in the Southwest including: the San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership; the Two Watersheds, Three Rivers, Two States (2-3-2) Cohesive Strategy Partnership; the Southwest Wildfire Impact Fund; and the Rio Chama and Southwest Colorado Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Programs. He brings extensive experience and a proven track record of success in program management; communication; and science-based, strategic, and community-supported forest restoration.

Education

Bard College, MS

Earlham College, BA