Keynote Featured Speaker

Dr. Matt Rahn
Executive Director, Wildfire Conservancy
Temecula City Council Member
Director, California State University San Marcos, Wildfire Science and Urban Interface Program

Dr. Matt Rahn currently serves as the Executive Director for the Wildfire Conservancy, a California non-profit foundation dedicated to serving our firefighters, and protecting our communities. The Wildfire Conservancy is focused on three key areas:
1) Improving firefighter health and safety,
2) Advancing attack effectiveness, and
3) Promoting community resilience and awareness

He also serves on the Temecula City Council since 2014, and as Mayor in 2018 and 2022. In his academic role, Dr. Rahn serves as the Director for the California State University San Marcos program in Wildfire Science and Urban Interface and has led coursework in wildfire science, law, land use planning, statistics, water management, transportation, air quality, conservation planning, and energy.

Dr. Rahn has over two decades of experience in applied sciences and policy, with an emphasis in environmental science, biology, statistics, public policy and wildfire science. Having earned both a PhD and JD, Dr. Rahn has focused much of his work on the interface between science and policy, supporting local, state and federal programs in collaboration with lawyers, policymakers and scientists. He is currently leading the development of the west coast Center of Excellence for Firefighter Behavioral Health, located just north of Temecula, California.