\u201cIt was weirdly useful and illustrative of the problem,\u201d said Sarah Swope, an evolutionary ecologist and associate professor of biology at Northeastern who led the pilot Accelerate Pre-College Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n The course is part of the 10th edition of the summer offering for rising high school juniors and seniors from around the world, and the first year of a location-targeted lesson plan for the Oakland campus.<\/p>\n Over the two-week course, Swope educated students about the effects and various costs of climate change in the wildfire-prone region through lectures, field trips and research paper analysis. They learned about the ecology of fire, how natural fire regimes are being altered and the consequences for the state\u2019s ecosystems and people.<\/p>\n \u201cThe program was specific to California and the Western U.S., something that you really couldn\u2019t do in New England,\u201d said Swope, whose research has focused on the ecological and evolutionary challenges facing rare plants. \u201cFire just isn\u2019t much of an issue there, certainly not the way it is here.\u201d<\/p>\n Wildfires have erupted across the West in recent weeks, supercharged by months of dryness, an increase in high winds and a historic lack of snow over the winter, which is important to maintaining soil moisture, according to Anncy Thresher, an assistant professor of public policy, urban affairs and philosophy at Northeastern.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is largely driven by climate change, which tends to extremize weather when it happens,\u201d Thresher said.<\/p>\n Having grown up in Stockton, California, 11th-grade student Jennifer Onyekwere entered the program well familiar with the sight of a blood-red sky and the smell of wildfire smoke, she said. The state has endured an annual average of more than 4,300 wildfires over the past five years, according to CAL Fire<\/a>, leaving 82,000 acres burnt each year on average.<\/p>\n Onyekwere said she was drawn to the Northeastern program because of its connection to her home. And though she had been conditioned to fear fire\u2019s harmful impact on urban communities, she said she was surprised to learn about other points of view.<\/p>\n \u201cComing into this class, you see all of the benefits that fire can have on the environment,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that gives you a new perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n Prescribed burns remove dried plant matter from the ground in fire-prone areas, cutting off one of the most dangerous sources of potential fuel for wildfires, Swope said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cultural burns, an indigenous fire mitigation practice that has been used for thousands of years, involve lighting a small, low-intensity blaze to nourish the underlying soil and clear underbrush, she said. The practice also promotes new growth in native plants like tule, which Native American tribes have historically used to make baskets and canoes.<\/p>\n![\"Students](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/070626_JC_OAK_001.jpg\")
Photo by Julio Chuy\/Northeastern University<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/070626_JC_OAK_004.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/070626_JC_OAK_005.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/070626_JC_OAK_002.jpg\")
\nA cohort of high school-age students were guided by Northeastern\u2019s Oakland faculty in topics ranging from architecture and design to entrepreneurship and wildfire ecology. Photos by Julio Chuy\/Northeastern University<\/p>\n