For the first time in recorded history, wildfires breached the peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains this year - terrain long considered to be well equipped to fend off encroaching fires. To learn more about the significance of this milestone, Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock spoke to Crystal Kolden, a pyrogeographer and assistant professor at U.C. Merced.
U.C. Merced professor on how climate change alters wildfire behavior
![UC Merced professor Crystal Kolden](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ef777ed/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x533+0+0/resize/880x586!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F53%2Fe0%2F021db4504a10a011ceb72b5a3dc2%2Fcrystal-kolden.jpg)
UC Merced