UPDTAE: Some lessons in RX-310 currently use avatar-based presentation. This approach allowed the course to be developed quickly while keeping the focus on the technical fire effects material. Over time, these lessons are being replaced with real-person recordings featuring me and others, with full transition expected by fall 2026. The updated format will also result in a higher course fee, as the avatars were originally used to help keep the course cost-effective and accessible to participants around the world.
If you strongly prefer instructor-recorded video over avatars, please be aware that the course currently includes a mix of both formats. The primary focus of the course is the fire effects content and its application to prescribed burning and wildfire, which remains the same regardless of presentation format.
Please focus your feedback on the usefulness of the fire effects content and how it supports post-wildfire actions, prescribed burn planning and fire operations.
Thank you - Colleen
COURSE OBJECTIVES
RX-310 Introduction to Fire Effects is a self-paced online course that explores how fire interacts with ecosystems across Canada and the United States. Built on NWCG standards to meet their and BCWS certification requirements, this 30-hour learning experience blends current case studies, exercises, short videos, and podcast-style discussions featuring insights from wildland fire practitioners and researchers around the world.
You will develop the knowledge and skills to recognize and communicate relationships between fire regimes and fire effects, understand how fire treatments influence ecological outcomes, and learn how to manipulate prescribed fire to achieve desired effects. Along the way, you’ll explore real examples of fire at work, from coastal forests to prairie grasslands, while using the latest tools, techniques, and monitoring approaches to connect science with practice.
At the successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of fire as an ecological process using the concepts of fire regimes and fire effects at multiple scales.
2. Identify realistic management solutions in an adaptive management framework.
3. Communicate effectively with fire and resource professionals based on a common understanding of fire effects.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of how fire management related resource issues interact.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of how to manipulate treatments to achieve desired first order fire effects.
What to expect in the course
Self-paced and flexible: Learn when it works for you, no pressure. Whether you’re on duty, in the field, pulling a night shift or catching up on a rainy day, you set the pace.
Avatars and interactive learning: You’ll notice the use of avatars. They help keep the instruction consistent and visual. I know avatars aren’t for everyone, but don’t worry, they’re not the whole course. You’ll also get real field examples, visuals, readings, and plenty of practical exercises and reviews to keep it grounded in practical fire work.
Your Student Manual: Download it right from the course and use it to follow along, make notes, and track your understanding as you go. Many participants print it and keep it handy for burn planning or field reference.
This is an information based only course that will provide you with the content needed to support your training in fire effects monitoring, which can be learned on the job or through fire effects monitoring courses and workshops.
If you are looking for a course in fire effects monitoring, check out the Fire Effects and Treatment Monitoring Workshop (next one June 2027) or the Association for Fire Ecology events page.
If you are looking for a course about the Fire Effects Monitor burn day position, contact BCWS CRx or the Wildland Fire Learning Portal to learn about courses in your area for S-244 FOBS/FEMO.
RX-310 is complementary knowledge to both courses and a requirement for most prescribed fire leadership roles.
Instructors (and more coming…)
Jacquie Rasmussen is a Professional Agrologist consultant, specializes in project management, outreach and education, field data capture (primarily plants), and community partnerships. She’s committed to reconciliation with help from her St’át’imc partners and has experience in invasive species management, watershed restoration, agriculture planning, and prescribed burning. She lives in Lillooet with her husband and two dogs, enjoying outdoor activities like mountain biking, hiking, and paddling.
Colleen Ross is a fire ecologist and burn boss with 30 years of experience in wildfire management, fire behaviour, and fire effects monitoring across western North America. She has worked with agencies including the U.S. National Park Service and has extensive experience in prescribed fire planning, ecosystem restoration, fuels management, and post-fire monitoring. Colleen teaches nationally recognized wildfire and prescribed fire courses with a practical focus on applying fire ecology and fire effects principles to real world fire management and ecosystem restoration projects.
Chloe Kuch is based in Nelson and is a Forester in Training and an aspiring fire practitioner with a keen focus on wildfire management and prescribed fire. Her fascination with fire and the many ways it shapes the landscape first led her into fire suppression and has since evolved into a passion for prevention and mitigation, including ecosystem restoration. Drawing on her experience in operations, she now applies that knowledge to designing prescribed burns and to building capacity for more prescribed burning throughout the province.
Todd Penke is a Director with Biodiversity Pathways, a non-profit wildlife research organization. He works with First Nations, Governments and other organizations on applied research tied to wildlife and habitat. Part of his work focuses on the return of prescribed fire to the landscape with Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi'it First Nation to help improve habitat for culturally important wildlife while also reducing the risk of high severity wildfire.
Mandy Croppo is based in the West Kootenays and is a Forestry Instructor at Selkirk College, Registered Forest Technologist, and lifelong learner with a keen interest in forests and fire. Her career began in structural firefighting and paramedicine before moving into wildland fire and eventually forestry, giving her a unique perspective on wildfire and forest management. She teaches silviculture, forest policy, resource measurements, and applied research, drawing on her diverse operational experience, and is passionate about inspiring the next generation of forest professionals. Building on her fire background, she is expanding her involvement in fuel management planning, prescription development, and prescribed burning, with a growing interest in fire ecology and landscape fuels management. Outside of work, she can be found trail running, mountain biking, backpacking, and exploring the forests and mountains of the West Kootenays.