Greg Dillon is a Spatial Fire Analyst with the Fire Modeling Institute (FMI) at the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab. He has a B.S. in Geography from James Madison University (Harrisonburg, VA), and an M.A. in Geography from the University of Wyoming.
Greg has been at the Fire Lab since 2004, mostly doing work centered around the connections between biophysical site conditions (topography, soils, climate) and the spatial distribution of vegetation types and ecological processes (e.g, fire). He was the team lead for potential vegetation mapping on the National LANDFIRE project from 2004 to 2009, then moved into research focused on using satellite-derived measures of burn severity from MTBS to: a) examine relationships between burn severity and site conditions; and b) produce a predictive map of the potential for severe fire across the conterminous western U.S. Greg joined FMI in April 2011 and now uses his background in geography and ecology to help apply the latest advances in spatial analysis and fire science to real-world land management questions.
Prior to 2004, Greg worked as a GIS analyst with the Forest Service in Seattle, WA (Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and Region 6 ecology program); Asheville, NC (National Forests in North Carolina); and Harrisonburg, VA (George Washington National Forest). He also worked as an Assistant Research Scientist with the University of Wyoming Botany Department.
When not at work, Greg enjoys spending time with his wife and two young daughters, making music, skiing, playing hockey, running, and generally getting outdoors.

Current projects:

FIRESEV
Mapping Burn Severity Potential in the Western United States
Refining Fire Regime Concepts in Eastern Oregon Moist Forests
Spatially Stratified Summaries of National Wildland Fire Data

Publications:

Dillon, G.K., Z. A. Holden, P. Morgan, M. A. Crimmins, E.K. Heyerdahl, and C. Luce. 2011. Both topography and climate affected forest and woodland burn severity in two regions of the western US, 1984 to 2006. Ecosphere 2(12):130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES11-00271.1

Dillon, G., P. Morgan, and Z. Holden. 2011. Mapping the potential for high severity wildfire in the western United States. Fire Management Today. 71(2): 25-28. Online: http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/fmt/fmt_pdfs/FMT71-2.pdf

Meyer, C.B., D.H. Knight and G.K. Dillon. 2009. Use of the historic range of variability to evaluate ecosystem sustainability. Forum on Public Policy Online, Summer 2008 Edition (January 2009). Online: http://forumonpublicpolicy.com/summer08papers/archivesummer08/meyer.pdf

Dillon, G.K., D.H. Knight and C.B. Meyer. 2005. Historic range of variability for upland vegetation in the Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-139. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 85 p. Online: http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr139.html

Meyer, C.B., D.H. Knight and G.K. Dillon. 2005. Historic range of variability for upland vegetation in the Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-140. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 94 p. Online: http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr140.html

Baker, W.L. and G.K. Dillon. 2000. Plant and vegetation responses to edges in the southern Rocky Mountains. Pages 221-245 In Knight, R.L., F.W. Smith, S.W. Buskirk, W.H. Romme, and W.L. Baker, editors. Forest Fragmentation in the Southern Rocky Mountains. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.

Selected Conference Presentations:

Dillon, G.K., Z.A. Holden, P. Morgan, and B. Keane. 2009. A fire-severity mapping system (FSMS) for real-time fire management applications and long term planning: Developing a map of the landscape potential for severe fire in the western United States. Poster presentation, 4th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress: Fire as a Global Process, 30 November – 4 December 2009, Savannah, GA. Online: http://www.mtbs.gov/posters/dillon_FSMS_poster.pdf

Dillon, G.K. and R.P. Silverstein. 2009. Mapping pre-settlement vegetation in western rangelands using SSURGO soils data. Poster presentation, USDA Forest Service / BLM Geospatial ’09 Conference, 27 April – 1 May 2009, Snowbird, Utah.

Dillon, G.K. 2008. LANDFIRE Potential vegetation products: Methods and applications. RS-2008: Supporting Resource Management with Technology, Twelfth Biennial USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Application Conference, 15-17 April 2008, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Kost, J.R. and G.K. Dillon. 2005. Riparian and wetland mapping using multiple sources of digital data, decision tree models, and valley bottom delineation. Pecora 16: Global Priorities in Land Remote Sensing, 23-27 October 2005, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.