Dr. Chris Dicus
Featured Alumni for 2005-2006
On October 28, 2007 on National Public Radio
Chris Dicus, Associate Professor of Fire and Fuels Management at California Polytechnic University, speaks with Liane Hansen
Dr. Chris Dicus is a native of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is the son of Terri Campbell and the late Jesse Dicus. He graduated with honors from Hot Springs High School in 1988and then enrolled at Louisiana Tech where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1992 with a B.S in Forestry-Wildlife. He and his wife, MeLisa (married 1992), have three children, Nick (born 1995), Luke (born 1997), and Anna Grace (born 2000) and currently reside in Los Osos, California, where he is an Associate Professor of Wildland Fire & Fuels Management at Cal Poly State University.
At Louisiana Tech, Chris served as president of the Delta Chi fraternity and Association of Southern Forestry Clubs and was also a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Society. It was in his sophomore year, during one of Dr. Ray Newbold's field labs, that Chris made a goal of "getting a Ph.D. and studying fire in the mountains". Of interest, his wife MeLisa stated, while they were dating, that she would much rather live on the beach. When Chris was hired at Cal Poly, it was the only University in the entire nation where both desires could be met.
To realize his goals, after graduation from Louisiana Tech, Chris entered Utah State University, where he served as a Senator in the Utah State University Graduate Student Senate and earned a M.S. degree in Forestry (emphasizing fire ecology) in 1995. He earned his Ph.D. in Forestry (emphasizing silviculture) in 2000 at Louisiana State University under the direction of Dr. Thomas J. Dean. At LSU, he was a Gilbert Research Fellow, president of the Xi Sigma Pi Forestry Honor Society, and served a 1-year post-doctoral appointment affiliated with the U.S. Forest Service's Long Term Soil Productivity Project.
Chris now serves as the Coordinator for the Wildland Fire & Fuels concentration of the Forestry major at Cal Poly, where he teaches six classes on various aspects of wildland fire management. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Fire Ecology (international) and the San Luis Obispo County FireSafe Council and is also the current President of the Los Padres Chapter of the Society of American Foresters. His research focuses on fire in the wildland-urban interface, how various forestry practices affect fuels and potential fire behavior, and forest regulation. He has authored or co-authored numerous manuscripts, including the first Fire Management Laboratory Manual ever published in the United States. He also, at times, is called on by government agencies to serve as a fire behavior specialist during wildfires.
Chris's hobbies include family and church activities, hiking and backpacking, and writing and playing music (he sings and plays harmonica in his church worship band). Unfortunately, Chris has been somewhat tainted living in California, as he now loves both eating sushi and surfing the big waves he can see from his home. Further, his students at Cal Poly have remarked that he is the only person they have ever met who uses both the words "dude" and "ya'll" in the same sentence.
