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Alexandra Paige Fischer

Associate Professor
Behavior, Education, and Communication
Climate + Energy
Conservation + Restoration
[email protected]
(734) 763-3830
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The Western Forest and Fire Initiative
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About

Paige Fischer, PhD, serves as Associate Professor at SEAS. Fischer's research group focuses on human dimensions of environmental change. The primary goal of her research is to increase scientific understanding of human behavior as it relates to the sustainability of socio-ecological systems. She focuses much of her work on human adaptation to climate change and natural hazards such as wildfire in forested areas. 

Fischer is particularly interested in understanding the capacity of individuals (e.g., private landowners) and organizations (e.g., natural resource agencies and environmental organizations) to adapt to environmental change through individual and collective natural resource management and environmental conservation actions. She draws on theories from the fields of natural resource sociology and human-environment geography in her work. Her methods include qualitative interview analysis, quantitative survey analysis and social network analysis. She collaborates with researchers from diverse disciplines using a broad range of analytical approaches and strives to address problems of concern to local practitioners.

Fischer is recognized as one of 50 female leading scholars in the international field of fire science.

Publications

Fischer, A. P. and R. C. H. Denny*. (In press). Evaluating behavioral adaptation to climate change in terms of adaptation and coping: an index approach. Global Environmental Change.

Fischer, A. P., Shah, M. A. R., Segnon, A. C., Matavel, C., Antwi-Agyei, P., Shang, Y., Muir, M.*, & Kaufmann, R.* (2024). Human adaptation to climate change in the context of forests: A systematic review. Climate Risk Management, 43, 100573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2023.100573. 

Fischer, A. P., Russo, M.*, & Powers, G*. (2022). Behavioral adaptation to climate change: New insights on psychosocial frameworks from the context of managed forests. Sustainability Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-01085-9.

Berrang-Ford, L., Siders, A. R., Lesnikowski, A., Fischer, A. P., et al. (2021). A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 11(11), 989-1000. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01170-y.

Charnley, S., Kelly, E. C., & Fischer, A. P. (2020). Fostering collective action to reduce wildfire risk across property boundaries in the American West. Environmental Research Letters, 15(2), 025007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab639a

Hamilton, M., Salerno, J., & Fischer, A. P. (2019). Cognition of complexity and trade-offs in a wildfire-prone social-ecological system. Environmental Research Letters, 14(12), 125017. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab59c1

Sayles, J., Mancilla Garcia, M., Hamilton, M., Alexander, S., Baggio, J., Fischer, A. P., Ingold, K., Meredith, G., & Pittman, J. (2019). Social-ecological network analysis for sustainability sciences: a systematic review and innovative research agenda for the future. Environmental Research Letters, 14(9), 093003. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab2619

Bodin, Ö., Alexander, S. M., Baggio, J., Barnes, M. L., Berardo, R., Cumming, G. S., Dee, L., Fischer, M., Fischer, A. P., Mancilla-Garcia, M., Guerrero, A., Hileman, J., Ingold, K., Matous, P., Morrison, T. H., Nohrstedt, D., Pittman, J., Robins, G., & Sayles, J. (2019). Improving network approaches to the study of complex social-ecological interdependencies. Nature Sustainability, 2, 551-559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0308-0

Fischer, A. P. (2019). Characterizing behavioral adaptation to climate change in temperate forests. Landscape and Urban Planning, 188, 72-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.09.024

Fischer, A. P., Klooster, A., & Cirhigiri, L. (2019). Cooperation across property boundaries to manage forest landscapes: collective action and social exchange among individual landowners. Landscape and Urban Planning, 188, 151-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.02.004

Fischer, A. P. (2019). Adapting and coping with climate change in temperate forests. Global Environmental Change, 54, 160-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.10.011

Hamilton, M., Fischer, A. P., & Ager, A. (2019). A social-ecological network approach for understanding wildfire risk governance. Global Environmental Change, 54, 113-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.11.007

Hamilton, M., Fischer, A. P., Guikema, S., & Keppel-Aleks, G. (2018). Behavioral adaptation to climate change in fire-prone forests. Wires Climate Change, 9(6), e553. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.553

Fischer, A. P. (2018). Forest landscapes as socioecological systems and implications for management. Landscape and Urban Planning, 177, 138-147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.05.001.

Fischer, A. P. (2018). Pathways of adaptation to external stressors: implications for climate change in coastal natural resource-dependent communities. World Development, 108, 235-248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.12.007

Fischer, A. P. & Frazier, T. G. (2018). Social vulnerability to climate change in temperate forest areas: incorporating new measures of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 108(3), 658-678. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2017.1387046

Kline, J. D., E. M. White, Fischer, A. P., Steen-Adams, M., Charnley, S., Olsen, C., Spies, T. A., & Bailey, J. D. (2017). Integrating social science into empirical models of coupled human and natural systems. Ecology and Society, 22(3), 25. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09329-220325

Fischer, A. P. & Jasny, L. (2017). Capacity to adapt to environmental change: evidence from a network of organizations concerned with increasing wildfire risk. Ecology and Society, 22(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08867-220123

Fischer, A. P., Spies, T. A., Steelman, T. A., Moseley, C., Johnson, B. R., Bailey, J. D., Ager, A. A., Bourgeron, P., Charnley, S., Collins, B. M., Kline, J. D., Leahy, J. E., Littell, J. S., Millington, J. D. A., Nielsen-Pincus, M., Olsen, C. S., Paveglio, T. B., Roos, C. I., Steen-Adams, M. M., Stevens, F. R., Vukomanovic, J., White, E. M., & Bowman, D. M. J. S. (2016). Wildfire risk as a socio-ecological pathology. Frontiers of Ecology and the Environment, 14(5), 1-9. https://doi:10.1002/fee.1283

Read more publications here.

Research

Understanding Opportunities for Adapting to and Mitigating Risks Associated with Climate Change on Family Forestlands in the Pacific Northwest. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 2019-2021. (PI).

Forecasting effects of forestry responses to climate change on landscape-scale forest structure and wildlife habitats. USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, McIntire Stennis Project.  2020-2022. (Co-PI).

Impacts of Socio-Ecological Adaptation to Global Change on Forests Ecosystems. USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, McIntire Stennis Project 1011135. (Co-PI with Inés Ibáñez, University of Michigan, School for Environment and Sustainability.)

Scientific Knowledge Networks for Natural Resource Management: Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists, managers and stakeholders, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. 2016-2021. (PI)

Accolades

Notable awards and recognition

  • Fulbright Scholar, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile
     
Education

PhD, Oregon State University (forest resources social science)

MS, Oregon State University (forest resources social science)

BA, Hampshire College (cultural anthropology)

Affiliations

National and International Service

  • Climate Action Committee, Hampshire College, 2023-present.
  • Associate Editor, Ecology and Society, 2021-present.
  • Associate Editor, Frontiers in Climate, Climate Risk Management, 2019-present
  • Contributing Author, Chapter 16, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group II (Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability), 2020-2022
  • Board Chair, Human Dimensions of Global Change Specialty Group, American Association of Geographers, 2020-2022.
In the News
SEAS master's students present their findings at the Capstone Conference.
June 5, 2025

Second chances, first responders: SEAS master’s project team reveals impact of incarcerated firefighters’ careers

Around one-third of California’s wildland firefighters are incarcerated people, yet many struggle to maintain their careers in forest firefighting upon their release. One...

Wildfires across North America: SEAS experts can comment
August 2, 2024

Wildfires across North America: SEAS experts can comment

EXPERTS ADVISORY More than 100 wildfires are burning across Canada and the United States, the largest of which is located in California. Dubbed the Park Fire, it has...

Macy Robinson (MS ’24)
April 29, 2024

Meet the future of Sustainability and Development: Macy Robinson (MS ’24)

Why SEAS? After completing her Bachelor of Science in Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at North Carolina State University, Macy Robinson (MS ’24) knew she wanted...

Firefighters worked to extinguish flames alongside a road near Nacimiento, Chile, in February 2023. Wildfires spread in southern and central Chile earlier this year, triggering evacuations and the declaration of a state of emergency in some regions.
November 27, 2023

Addressing the Growing Wildfire Problem in Chile

In early 2023, wildfires were raging in Chile, which isn't unlike what the U.S. has experienced with more frequency in recent years, particularly in the western part of the country. SEAS Associate Professor Paige Fischer says that when it comes to how climate change is impacting wildfires, the U.S. West and Chile have quite a bit in common.

Canadian wildfires prompt US health warnings: U-M experts available
June 7, 2023

Canadian wildfires prompt US health warnings: U-M experts available

ANN ARBOR—Michigan and several states have issued air quality advisories as hundreds of Canadian wildfires continue to burn, sending plumes of smoke across the U.S. and...

New IPCC climate adaptation report: U-Michigan experts available to discuss
February 28, 2022

New IPCC climate adaptation report: U-Michigan experts available to discuss

EXPERTS ADVISORY The United Nations’ authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a major new report on climate change impacts, adaptation and...

COP26 final outcome: U-Michigan experts available to comment
November 15, 2021

COP26 final outcome: University of Michigan experts available to comment

EXPERTS ADVISORY The two-week COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, ended today with an agreement among nearly 200 nations aimed at intensifying global efforts...

California dry riverbed
November 1, 2021

Global network takes stock of human adaptation to climate change

As society experiences increasingly frequent and severe natural hazard events and environmental stressors—while making little progress at reducing carbon emissions—the...

In the Media
06/06/2025
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Smoke knows no boundaries: What Canada's fires mean for the U.S. in the future (NPR)
06/04/2025
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Canadian wildfire smoke will be more frequent unwanted visitor in Michigan (Detroit Free Press)
02/12/2024
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Wildfire Smoke Will Worsen, New Study Shows, and Protections Are Few
02/12/2024
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Wildfire Smoke Will Worsen, New Study Shows, and Protections Are Few (The New York Times)
07/21/2023
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Why can't Canada just put the fires out? Here are 5 answers to key questions (NPR)
06/08/2023
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Hazardous haze impacting those with health issues around metro Detroit (WXYZ-TV)
06/08/2023
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Record Pollution and Heat Herald a Season of Climate Extremes (The New York Times)
06/08/2023
Drew Gronewold
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Stateside (Michigan Radio)
06/07/2023
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Maps and Apps Help Track Wildfire Smoke by City and Neighborhood (Bloomberg)
02/10/2023
Alexandra Paige Fischer
U-M among top universities for Fulbright students, faculty (University Record)
03/05/2022
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Kyle Whyte
Floods, heat waves, crop failures: Report shows Michigan must prepare for climate future (MLive.com)
11/13/2021
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Report: Poor countries need 5 to 10 times more funding to adapt to climate risks they did not create (Salon)
11/08/2021
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Global network takes stock of human adaptation to climate change (The University Record)
11/04/2021
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Report: Poor countries need 5 to 10 times more funding to adapt to climate risks they did not create (Grist)
11/03/2021
Alexandra Paige Fischer
COP 26: Does adaptation actually reduce risk? New global study probes for answers (Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre)
08/12/2021
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Does Smokey Bear need a makeover to prevent more wildfires? (National Geographic)
06/30/2021
Alexandra Paige Fischer
Biden Pledges More Federal Help for Western States to Battle Wildfires (Voice of America)
09/18/2020
Alexandra Paige Fischer
'Too late to stop it': California's future hinges on managing megafires (The Guardian)
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