Shefali Lakhina: Innovating FireTech with Frontline Communities

In this episode of Smart Forests Radio, we talk with Dr Shefali Juneja Lakhina about socially led innovations in fire technology and policy. Shefali is the co-founder of Wonder Labs, a climate justice-focused social enterprise based in California. Since 2021, as part of Wonder Labs’ flagship initiative—the Reimagining 2025: Living with Fire Design Challenge—Shefali has mentored student teams in conducting convergence research with community partners working to reduce catastrophic wildfire impacts in caring, equitable, and just ways. In the interview, Shefali shares insights from Wonder Labs’ State of FireTech Report, emphasising the importance of focusing on “fires that matter” and shifting away from early detection and suppression towards mitigation. She discusses how technology can help different communities prepare to live and work with fire in their unique contexts, providing examples such as BurnBot, a fuel treatment system for prescribed burns, and FireUp, a fire forestry workforce platform.

Interviewer: Jennifer Gabrys

Producer: Harry Murdoch

Image: FireUp