Fighting Fire with Fire

Kelly graduated from Northland College with a bachelor’s degree in Outdoor Education in 1986, completing Technical Fire Management in 1996. Kelly began her federal career as a GS-3 with the Apostle Island National Lakeshore in 1984 while attending college and has worked her way up through the wildland fire ranks for the last 34 years.

Her federal wildland fire career spans the National Park Service and the US Forest Service working in six different states. She has worked on helicopter modules as an assistant foreman and manager; Redding Hotshot crew in 1991; fuels and prescribed fire crews as a Type 1 Complex Burn Boss, Fire Behavior Analyst on Type 1 and Type 2 teams since 2006; Operations Section Chief and Operations Branch Director since 2014; and held several career leadership positions as a Fire Management Officer (Moab, UT; Carson City, NV; Placerville, CA; Yosemite, CA) on complex fire units since 1996.

Kelly is the past chair of two National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) programs: Fire Environment Committee (FENC) and the National Fire Management Leadership (M-582) course. Kelly Martin maintains a highly diverse skill set as a field practitioner in prescribed fire and wildfire management focusing on increasing the wise use of applied fire on large fire adapted ecosystems for forest health and resiliency especially due to drought, tree mortality and climate change. 

Kelly is also a strong advocate for diversity, inclusion and gender parity throughout the Wildland Fire Community. Her most recent efforts include providing leadership for the Women in Fire Training Exchange (WTREX) since 2016; a highly successful grass roots program aimed at promoting practical wildland fire skills and networking opportunities for both women and men.

Biography courtesy of International Association of Wildland Fire, where Kelly serves as a Board Member. The International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) mission is to facilitate communication and provide leadership for the wildland fire community. The IAWF was formed to promote a better understanding of wildland fire, and built on the belief that an understanding of this dynamic natural force is vital for natural resource management, for firefighter safety, and for harmonious interaction between people and their environment. The Association is dedicated to communicating with the entire wildland fire community and providing global linkage for people with a shared interest in wildland fire and comprehensive fire management.

Kristina was first inspired by Yosemite as a 10-year-old and knew from that first visit to Tuolumne Meadows that she would return, which she did as a high schooler in what was then known as Yosemite Institute (now NatureBridge). She remembered asking her educator, "How do you GET this job?" After a career as a public high school teacher, Kristina returned to Yosemite in the 90s to become a Yosemite Institute educator, which eventually led to a 13-year career with Yosemite National Park as a writer/editor, planner and project manager, and national leader on Wild and Scenic River Act policy. She has served as the Yosemite Regional Director for NatureBridge since 2011. Inspired by her experiences as a student, her passion for connecting young people to nature through NatureBridge programs comes from her own deep personal connection. 

As Yosemite Regional Director she oversees an operation of 65 staff that inspire as many as 15,000 young people annually. Each year, NatureBridge in Yosemite contributes $7.5 million in educational programming on behalf of and in partnership with the National Park Service. In addition to supporting the Board of Directors, Kristina manages the effort to build the National Environmental Science Center in Yosemite, a 224-bed net-zero energy LEED Platinum facility that will soon open its first phase to students. 

Kristina has a B.A. in English and environmental science from UCLA, a teaching credential from UC Berkeley, and an M.A. in Organizational Leadership and Ethics from Claremont Lincoln University. When not at work, she enjoys connecting to the outdoors by way of hiking, biking, horseback riding, skiing, art journaling and lounging by rivers and streams with her husband, Alex, and three young adult kids, Cal, Milo and Owen.