WILKES HACKATHON WINNERS

IN JANUARY, MY TEAMMATES AND I DEDICATED 24 HOURS OF OUR WEEKEND TO IMMERSE OURSELVES IN THE PRESSING ISSUES OF WILDLAND FIRE RESILIENCE IN THE WEST.

Joining the Wilkes Center Climate Solutions Hackathon offered a valuable break from the routine grind of a first-year PhD student in biology.

Our team’s final project, establishing the Wildfire Resilience Collective, ended up winning first place. However, the true highlight was the collaborative effort among students from various majors, urging us to tackle the issue from diverse perspectives and glean insights from each other.

Our team [currently] consists of PhD students from the School of Biological Sciences and an undergraduate premed student studying Biomedical Engineering. The education and interests of each team member provide a wealth of foundational knowledge, but, most importantly, we share a common goal of utilizing our research to inform policymakers and stakeholders in shaping land use decisions.

What exactly is a hackathon? While often associated with coding challenges, its essence lies in rapidly developing solutions within a condensed time frame. Our team’s focus was far removed from coding. We aimed to grasp the impact of wildfires on community resilience and the mechanisms behind fostering such resilience.

Learn more about the Hackathon at wilkescenter.utah.edu.