It’s only natural to shy away from fire.
The sight of a vast miles-long swath of grassland engulfed in flames would spark terror in the heart of anyone — but Penny Morgan sees it as something to be studied and encountered head-on, almost as a work of art.
“Fire is a bad master but a good servant,” Morgan said. “If it’s a bad master, then we need to learn how to master it.”
Morgan, a professor of fire and forest ecology, will retire this June after 33 years spent teaching and working at UI.
Over the course of her career — which she said began in “roughly the Pleistocene Era” — Morgan was instrumental in the development of UI’s Fire Science program which became one of the most highly respected in the world.
Morgan spearheaded the development of a fire science major at UI, the first of its kind in the nation, and has since worked tirelessly to “do science people can use.”
Even as a child, Morgan said she was always curious, asking questions like why some parts of a blackened landscape scorched by fire turned green again, and some didn’t. This curiosity became a passion for teaching, and Morgan returned to the Palouse in 1986 as a professor after having completed her doctorate at UI.
Outside of the classroom, Morgan taught prescribed burning labs to fire science students and worked frequently with the Forest Service and Department of Lands as well as institutions in Spain, Portugal and Argentina to solve evolving problems in fire management.
Heather Heward, senior instructor in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences and a former student and advisee of Morgan, said Morgan’s continuous emphasis on hands-on experience created fire professionals fully prepared for the ever-changing world of fire science, as she maintained a focus on developing her students as people.
“She is always full of high hopes, great ideas and big schemes,” Heward said. “She expects you to work hard and work a lot, but she has this amazing ability to work with everyone as if they’re her colleague.”
Morgan’s research asks what comes back after a fire and what doesn’t and why and tackles the modern problem of increasingly long and hot fire seasons.
She is in the final stages of writing a textbook which she said will ask how to live alongside fire in the future and has previously helped curate art exhibitions to spark discussion among communities about rebuilding in a fire’s aftermath.
Heward said Morgan’s passion for talking about fire is practically contagious. After attending a talk Morgan gave on the fire history of the Palouse, she said she could feel “palpable passion” in the room as the audience listened.
“Watching Penny open people’s eyes like that and to see what happens after is truly impressive,” Heward said. “The depth of knowledge and curiosity she carries and her ability to impart that upon others — it’s a testament to me that she breathes passion, not just for fire but for people.”
Morgan said she will miss the teamwork of teaching and the places she’s been, but what she’s taken away from her time at UI most has been the connections forged with people.
“I’d like to think I’ve given people ideas and helped them go where they need to go,” Morgan said. “I have always wanted to make a difference in the world, and I think that now I have.”
Riley Haun can be reached at [email protected].