News Release

ShihMing Huang named as new smoke management specialist for NPS and interagency wildland fire management

ShihMing Huang joins the NPS as a smoke management specialist.

ShihMing Huang

News Release Date: December 9, 2024

Contact: Tina Boehle, 208-387-5875

ShihMing (pronounced She-Ming) Huang has accepted a new position with the National Park Service (NPS) Branch of Wildland Fire as a smoke management specialist focused on technical support.

ShihMing, who holds a bachelor’s degree in biological science from San Jose State University and a master’s degree in environmental science from California State University, Chico, will serve as a senior staff expert pertaining to advanced technical analyses relating to wildland fire smoke management issues. Hosted by the NPS, ShihMing will serve in an intra- and interagency capacity for NPS, as well as the Department of the Interior’s Office of Wildland Fire (OWF), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). He will provide senior level advice, guidance, and support in technical evaluation and coordination among the bureaus and the Department as well as with outside partners like the USDA Forest Service (USFS), EPA, state, Tribal, and local cooperators.

An air quality scientist for the past 16 years in the environmental consulting sector, ShihMing designed, developed, and conducted projects and research that advanced the understanding of wildfire and prescribed fire smoke emissions and their impacts on air quality and public health. His work involved applying monitored, remotely sensed, and modeled fire, smoke, and air quality data, and using techniques and tools including numerical analysis, scripting, GIS, and models, to quantify and analyze smoke impacts. He appreciates the interdisciplinary and cross-sector nature of wildland fire and smoke issues and has always promoted and enjoyed collaborative work with partners and stakeholders in government, academia, and industry. ShihMing has received funding support from the USFS, EPA, NASA, NOAA, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), National Institute of Health, utility companies, and other sources to address wildland fire and smoke management challenges and research questions.

Some of ShihMing’s favorite memories and experiences are from hiking and camping at national parks and he is excited and honored to join NPS and DOI. He looks forward to contributing his technical knowledge and skills to smoke management in his new position. In his personal time, ShihMing enjoys traveling with his family and playing sports with his two kids. He currently resides in a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina.