
Biography – Assaf Inbar
Assaf is an ecosystem modeller working as a postdoctoral research fellow as part of a team at HIE that develops a new community dynamic vegetation model for Australia (Dynamics of Australian Vegetation – DAVE). Assaf did his PhD at the University of Melbourne where he used numerical modelling, field data and geo-spatial analysis to study the role of fire in the co-evolution of forests, soils and landscapes. In his first postdoc position, Assaf held one of the leading roles in a project that aims to predict the effect of projected changes in climate and fire regime on Victoria’s water supply and the amount of carbon stored in its forests. The work involved integrating data from multiple sources and developing a model that simulates tree ecophysiology and the dynamics and the ecohydrology of Victoria’s temperate forests. During this role Assaf was also involved in several other projects related to the prediction of dead fuel moisture from weather data. Coming from a background in biology and soil science, Assaf holds vast knowledge and experience in fire-related ecological, hydrological and geomorphological processes, especially in the South-eastern Australian perspective.