Born and raised in Montana, Dr. Kimiko Barrett (Kimi) has a deep interest in rural landscapes and the people who live there. She has a natural aptitude for connecting and energizing people in the pursuit of community resilience and climate adaptation.
Kimi is a committed agent of change in how we live with inevitable wildfires. Drawing on the expertise within the broad networks she has built, she has led research of national significance on topical issues such as the true cost of wildfires, the cost of building wildfire-resistant homes, and measuring wildfire impacts through structure loss. Her work has changed the national wildfire narrative and shaped new strategies for engaging communities on wildfire resilience.
Kimi managed Headwaters Economics’ Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire program for six years. In that capacity she worked with firefighters, land use and planning staff, government agency personnel, and elected officials in more than 80 communities across the country, helping them devise community-driven solutions to reduce wildfire risk and increase community adaptation efforts. Kimi’s experience with local-level efforts ensures that her research and policy work addresses real problems on the ground.
Uniquely positioned in the nexus of communities, science, and natural hazards, Kimi is regularly quoted by major media outlets. She is frequently interviewed by the New York Times, LA Times, Bloomberg, and Washington Post, National Public Radio, The Economist, the Associated Press, and Marketplace. And because of Kimi’s outstanding ability to engage diverse audiences, she is a sought-after speaker, regularly presenting at professional trainings, university seminars, community workshops, conferences, and congressional hearings. Kimi was recently appointed, served, and led efforts as a member of the Federal Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission.
Kimi has had a lifelong interest in community cultures, social change, and science. Her professional career and her exceptional communication skills are built on the groundwork of academic degrees in political science and Japanese, forestry, and geography.
As home insurance in areas with high wildfire risk becomes more expensive and harder to obtain, significant pressure is put on state and local budgets.
Retrofitting a home for wildfire resistance can cost as little as $2,000, making this approach an effective risk reduction strategy for communities.
Leading wildfire experts make the case that creating wildfire-resistant communities must become a much higher priority.
In this ten-minute video produced by Headwaters Economics, learn how leaders in Austin, TX came to realize the magnitude of the wildfire threat, and how they brought together diverse interests to protect their community.
A new report from the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission recommends transformative approaches needed to overcome the wildfire crisis.
A new analysis shows that managing the built environment is the most effective strategy at reducing wildfire risk to communities, yet it receives the least funding and policy support.
The United States is spending billions of dollars on suppressing wildfires that threaten a growing number of homes, but very little on better preparing communities before a wildfire occurs.
In light of rising wildfire risks, we analyzed the costs of constructing homes to three levels of wildfire resistance in California.
At least 1.2 million wood roofs are in areas with wildfire risk. Funding is needed to help communities prepare for wildfire.
Watch “Living with wildfire.” Wildfires are an inescapable and necessary function of healthy ecosystems. In the past decade they have increased in severity and duration, killed more people, and burned more structures.
Slide show: The wildland-urban interface is growing and wildfires are causing cause more damage. Land use planning is an important solution.
A new report in our Economic Profile System provides community-level data about wildfire hazard and potentially vulnerable populations.
Explore the number of structures destroyed in each state by wildfire. Structures lost—rather than acres burned—provides a more complete measure of the broad impacts of wildfire.
The number of western Montana homes in areas with high wildfire hazard has doubled, outpacing development rates in areas with low wildfire hazard.
Kimiko Barrett, Ph.D., demonstrates how community resilience to wildfire needs to include planning and adaptation strategies for homes and neighborhoods.
From 2000-2019, nearly 2,000 U.S. communities were threatened by wildfires or potential ember spread, showing the need for adaptive planning strategies.
Testimony on wildfires and vulnerable populations to a forum before the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands.
Federal wildfire policy that emphasizes suppression—a legacy of early-1900s forest management—has resulted in a paradox: accumulated fuels and larger, more severe wildfires.
Land use planning can help communities become fire-adapted and resilient in the face of increasing wildfire potential.
Managing wildfires during a pandemic will test the capacity of our first responders, but individual homeowners can take steps now to reduce wildfire risks.
More than 1,100 communities in 32 states face similar risks to Los Angeles and other places with recent urban wildfires, highlighting the urgent need for wildfire-resistant homes and neighborhoods.
An independent analysis by Headwaters Economics shows that the first round of funding from the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program prioritized high-risk, low-income communities.
In this video produced by Headwaters Economics, homeowner Brodey Simkins describes the tragedy of losing his home to wildfire and his commitment to rebuilding with wildfire in mind.
“If your neighbor doesn’t do anything, and you do, if that home burns it will create so much radiant heat, yours will burn too,” said Kimiko Barrett of Headwaters Economics in Bozeman, Mont., a company that advises cities on reducing wildfire damage risk. Neighbors matter.
Kimiko Barrett, senior wildfire research and policy analyst at the research institute Headwaters Economics, said there are three ways homes ignite during a wildfire: direct flame contact from the fire front, radiant heat from nearby items catching fire, or ember exposure.
Ira Flatow talks with Dr. Kimiko Barrett, senior wildfire researcher and policy analyst at the research group Headwaters Economics in Bozeman, Montana; and Dr. Alexandra Syphard, senior research scientist at the Conservation Biology Institute in San Diego, California.
“When you’re dealing with retrofit, the conditions on the ground can vary so much that there’s significant variation [in cost],” said Kimiko Barrett, a wildfire research and policy analyst at Headwaters Economics who has examined the costs involved.
According to a report called “Missing the Mark,” published last year by the Columbia Climate School and Headwaters Economics, an independent, nonprofit research group based in Montana, the most effective strategies to reduce communities’ wildfire risk aren’t just those that focus on forests, but also those that construct and adapt our homes and neighborhoods.