Trent is a fire risk modeller interested in all aspects of bushfire management. His work covers a range of theoretical and applied aspects of bushfire behaviour and management. The main focus of his research is optimising management expenditure to reduce the risk of detrimental fire impacts on people, property and the environment. His research combines fire simulation with quantitative risk methodologies such as Bayesian Networks. Trent is currently leading a project that has developed FROST – a fire regime simulation tool to address this question for both managers and researchers. These novel approaches to fire management have allowed for the analysis of landscape fire risk to multiple asset types (environmental, economic, social, cultural) over days, seasons and decades. Many of these methods are being implemented by fire management agencies in southern Australia.
Trent teaches undergraduate and masters level subjects. He is currently co-ordinating Patterns and Processes of Landscape Fire (FRST90025), Bushfire Planning and Management (FRST90017) and Spatial Tools for Ecosystem Sciences (ENST90045), and co-coordinates Fire in the Australian Landscape (FRST30002), and Building Behaviour in Bushfires (EVSC90023). Trent teaches into a range of other courses.
Supervision is an important component of any academic. Trent supervises a range of research students from laboratory studies of fire fundamentals, field based research projects on fire and fire ecology and computer based studies including remote sensing, fire behaviour simulation and species distribution modelling.
Outside of work, Trent enjoys restoring vintage motorcycles and walking in the forest.