Clare Boerigter
Wilderness Fire Research Fellow
Education
MFA, Creative Writing, Non-fiction, 2021. University dof Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
MA, International Education, 2017. Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
BA, Spanish, 2014. Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA
Background
Clare Boerigter is a science writer specializing in wildland fire. At the Leopold Institute, her research focuses on federal wilderness fire management, including the challenges, benefits and barriers to the use of prescribed fire in wilderness landscapes. Previously, Clare has written about fire, forestry, environmental research and more for the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station; the University of Minnesota’s Cloquet Forestry Center, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory and College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences; and the Coalition for Archaeological Synthesis. These products have taken the form of science briefs and articles, news pieces, multimedia StoryMaps and more, and have included dozens of interviews with land managers, scientists, researchers, students and other partners. Clare's work is often informed by her own experiences as a wildland firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service during the 2012, 2013 and 2015 fire seasons. When she's not writing, Clare loves to cross-country ski, open water swim, and run long distances.
Publications
Boerigter, C. E., Parks, S. A., Long, J. W., Coop, J. D., Armstrong, M., and Hankins, D. L. (2024). Untrammeling the wilderness: Restoring natural conditions through the return of human‑ignited fire. Fire Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-024-00297-5.
StoryMaps
“Untrammeling the Wilderness,” presented to accompany research by Clare E. Boerigter, Sean A. Parks, Jonathan W. Long, Jonathan D. Coop, Melanie Armstrong and Don L. Hankins in Fire Ecology in 2024: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/57bac07618ef4e1c922a6ac0b5835bee
“Wilderness and Fire: Barriers and Opportunities for Wilderness Fire in a Time of Change,” presented to accompany research by the Center for Public Lands at Western Colorado University and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, U.S. Forest Service in 2023: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/552dcb935a7d4108939293c9e3ed9d25
“People, Fire and Pines: How Fire Use by the Anishinaabeg Shaped the Boundary Waters,” presented by the Coalition for Archaeological Synthesis in 2022: z.umn.edu/peoplefirepine
“60 Years at the Cloquet Forestry Center,” presented by Cloquet Forestry Center and the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota in 2021: z.umn.edu/Boerigter2021
“The Camp 8 Stand: The Story of the Cloquet Forestry Center’s Old-Growth Red Pines,” presented by the Cloquet Forestry Center and the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota in 2020: z.umn.edu/camp8
Fire Storytelling
“Itasca, Alight” appeared in Guernica in 2021: www.guernicamag.com/itasca-alight
Science Briefs & Articles
Boerigter, C.E. (2022). Ojibwe firefighters restore fire to the Cloquet Forestry Center. College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, University of Minnesota. https://cfans.umn.edu/news/restoring-fire.
Boerigter, C.E. (2022). SAFL Faculty and Researchers Develop Tool to Measure Particle Transport of Wildfire Soot. St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota. https://cse.umn.edu/safl/news/safl-faculty-and-researchers-develop-tool-measure-particle-transport-wildfire-soot.
Boerigter, C.E. (2022). Northern Research Station Scientists Answer Fundamental Questions about Mixedwood Forests. Rooted in Research. Issue 9. Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service. www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/rooted-research/northern-research-station-scientists-answer-fundamental-questions.
Boerigter, C.E. (2021). On the Search for Success: Revisiting Group Selection in Promoting Northern Hardwood Forest Biodiversity. Rooted in Research. Issue 8. Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service. www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/rooted-research/search-success-revisiting-group-selection-promoting-northern-hardwood.
Boerigter, C.E. (2021). Seeing Our Future More Clearly: How One Peatland Study is Changing How We Think About Carbon. Rooted in Research. Issue 7. Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service. www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/rooted-research/seeing-our-future-more-clearly-how-one-peatland-study-changing-how-we.