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Field Trips

#1 Applied pyrogeography: from field to laboratory
Date: Friday, May 1
Time: 9:00 – 3:15
Cost: $75

This immersive field trip showcases how the University of Tasmania’s Fire Centre is tackling the problem of sustainable coexistence with fire in the wildland-urban interface. Participants will be guided through a series of linked modules from landscape-scale fuel management experiments to controlled laboratory studies of flammability and smoke exposure.

The morning session will begin with a field tour of the Queens Domain and the UTAS Reserve, where the Fire Centre and City of Hobart are collaborating on natural and controlled experiments addressing woody thickening, elevated fire hazard, and biodiversity decline in Eucalyptus woodlands. Participants will see first-hand how experimental fuel treatments, including mechanical thinning and prescribed burning, are being used to test strategies for ecologically engineering safer, more resilient ecosystems at the wildland-urban interface.

The afternoon session will take place at FireLab3, a purpose-built laboratory designed to investigate vegetation flammability and smoke emissions. Here, attendees will observe demonstrations quantifying (i) the flammability of key species found at the field sites and (ii) and the demonstration of smoke exposure experiments that can involve human participants, plants, animals and cell lines, in a specially designed laboratory. 

Together, the field trip will illustrate a diverse spectrum of applied pyrogeography, from living landscapes to controlled experiments, highlighting how integrated science is shaping the future of fire management.

Approx itinerary

  • 9:00 –Bus from Grand Chancellor to Queens Domain
  • 9:15 – 10:30 – Tour of Queens Domain; fuel management and ecological engineering natural experiment
  • 10:30 – 10:45 – Bus to UTAS Reserve
  • 10:45 – 11:15 – Morning Tea at UTAS Reserve
  • 11:15 – 13:00 – Tour of UTAS Reserve fuel management experiment
  • 13:00 – 13:15 – Bus to Fire Lab
  • 13:15 – Lunch
  • 13:15 – 15:00 – Consecutive tours of Fire Lab (the first one overlapping lunch)
  • 15:00 – 15:15 – Bus to Grand Chancellor

#2 Kunanyi/Mt Wellington Bushfire Risk Management
Date: Friday, May 1
Time: 9:00 – 3:00
Cost: $75

Step into the rugged beauty of Kunanyi / Mount Wellington while gaining firsthand insight into how Tasmania manages one of its most significant natural hazards: bushfire risk. This field trip, hosted by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, blends stunning landscapes with real-world learning, offering participants a rare opportunity to see how science, planning, and on-ground operations come together to protect communities, ecosystems, and cultural values.
Guided by experts in fire ecology and emergency management, you’ll explore key sites across the mountain to uncover:
-Fuel management strategies – including planned burning techniques, vegetation assessments, and fuel-load monitoring
– Ecological impacts of fire – how fire shapes Tasmanian bushland and how land managers balance protection with conservation
– Risk reduction for communities – the role of firebreaks, access routes, early-warning systems, and preparedness planning
– Modern tools and technology – mapping, modelling, and real-time decision-support systems used during bushfire events

#3 Aerial Fire ISR Demonstration – Cambridge Airport
Date: Friday, May 1
Time: Between 9:00am – 12:00pm
Cost: No cost – proudly sponsored by Microflite Aviation

Microflite Aviation will showcase two specialised aerial intelligence aircraft at the forefront of Australia’s airborne fire detection, surveillance and mapping capability. This will take place at Cambridge Airport – a critical hub for Tasmania’s firefighting, search and rescue, and emergency services aviation fleet. 

On display will be:

  • A Pilatus PC-12 Firescan aircraft, configured for wide-area intelligence collection, fire mapping and situational awareness
  • Tasmania’s Firebird 700 Aerial Intelligence helicopter, delivering real-time ISR to support operational decision-making during fire and emergency events

These two aircraft demonstrate the power of modern airborne ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) — integrating advanced electro-optical and infrared sensors, stabilised imaging systems, live data downlinking and geospatial overlays to provide operational teams with a clear, real-time picture of fire behaviour, hotspots and asset exposure.

This field trip offers participants a rare opportunity to view specialised fire intelligence aircraft up close, engage with the crews who operate them, and explore the integrated systems that connect airborne ISR with state and national fire management operations.  Designed as an immersive and operationally focused conclusion to the conference, this experience brings fire behaviour science out of the lecture theatre and into the operational environment where it is applied every day. 

Registrations are essential but you are welcome to drop in any time between 9am and midday for an informal but informative visit to this facility.

Microflite Aviation operates up to 10 aircraft on contract during fire seasons across Tasmania, Victoria, the ACT and Queensland, contributing to Australia’s national aerial firefighting fleet.

Transport
Participants are required to arrange their own transport to Cambridge Aerodrome, located approximately 15 minutes from the conference venue and 3 minutes from Hobart Airport.

Three Capes Track
There is a trip leaving on Friday, May 1st.  The shuttle leaves from Port Arthur. We have reserved some seats for our guests; however, you need to sign up in advance on your own. 
Learn More and Sign Up

The 48-kilometre track has been designed as an achievable experience for a wide range of ages and abilities. It has been built to a dry-boot standard from a range of materials, including timbers, stone and gravel and is wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side.

The journey begins with walkers checking in at the Port Arthur Historic Site. You will then board a Pennicott Wilderness Journeys purpose built vessel for a cruise of up to 75 minutes exploring coves and the tallest sea cliffs in the Southern Hemisphere before delivering walkers to the start of the track at Denmans Cove. Over four days and three nights, walkers will cover the 48 kilometres amongst tall eucalypt forests, coastal heath and Australia’s highest sea cliffs.

Evenings are spent in warm and comfortable environmentally-sensitive cabins; Surveyors, Munro and Retakunna.