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David Martell

Professor Emeritus

David completed his B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc., and Ph.D. in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto where he studied Management Science and Operational Research (MS/OR) and their application to forest fire management. He was assigned as a research scientist, to one of Ontario’s fire Incident Management Teams for the period 2010 – 2021. His current research interests include the development and implementation of decision support systems that fire managers can use to enhance their management of detection and initial attack systems, large fires and forest landscape management under uncertainty. He is the leader of Theme 5: Delivering Innovative Fire Management Solutions, of the NSERC Canada Wildfire Strategic Network.

Selected Recent Publications

  • Thompson, M.P., Martell, D.L. and Belval, E. 2022. How operations research and management science can help address the wildfire crisis. ORMS Today. 8 pp. https://doi.org/10.1287/orms.2022.05.11
  • Wheatley, M., B. M. Wotton, D. G. Woolford, D. L. Martell and J. M. Johnston. 2022. Modelling decisions concerning the dispatch of airtankers for initial attack on forest fires in Ontario, Canada. Canadian Journal of Forest Research.  https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2022-0225
  • Wheatley, M., B. M. Wotton, D. G. Woolford, D. L. Martell and J. M. Johnston. 2022. Modelling initial attack success on forest fires suppressed by air attack in the province of Ontario, Canada. International Journal of Wildland Fire 31(8): 774-785. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF22006
  • Hanes, C. C., M. Wotton, D. G. Woolford, D. L. Martell and M. Flannigan. 2022. Mapping organic layer thickness and fuel load of the boreal forest in Alberta, Canada. Geoderma 417. 12 pp. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2022.115827
  • Woolford, D. G., D. L. Martell, C. B. McFayden, J. Evens, A. Stacey, B. M. Wotton and D. Boychuk. 2021. The development and implementation of a human-caused wildland fire occurrence prediction system for the province of Ontario, Canada. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 51(2): 303-325. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2020-0313
  • Pais, C., J. Carrasco, D. L. Martell, A. Weintraub and D. L. Woodruff. 2021. Cell2Fire: A Cell-Based Forest Fire Growth Model to Support Strategic Landscape Management Planning. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 4. 21 pp. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.692706
  • McFayden, C. B., D. G. Woolford, A. Stacey, D. Boychuk, J. M. Johnston, M. J. Wheatley and D. L. Martell. 2020. Risk assessment for wildland fire aerial detection patrol route planning in Ontario, Canada. International Journal of Wildland Fire 29(1): 28-41. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF19084
  • Clark, Nicholas A. & David L. Martell. 2020. The use of aircraft tracking GPS data to develop models of the use of airtankers in forest fire management. INFOR: Information Systems and Operational Research, 57:4, 535-562. https://doi.org/10.1080/03155986.2019.1706398
  • Martin, Andrew B., Ruppert, Jonathan L.W., Gunn, Eldon A. and Martell, David L. 2017. A replanning approach for maximizing woodland caribou habitat alongside timber production. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. Vol. 47, No. 7, pp. 901-909. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0254

Selected Recent Presentations

  • Martell, D.L. 2023. Airtanker management analytics. Canada Wildfire webinar, April 14, 2023. Click to view presentation.

  • Martell, D.L. 2022. The need for integrated management of airtankers to support wildfire management operations. Paper presented at the 19th Symposium on Systems Analysis in Forest Resources, Estes Park, Colorado, 24-27 July 2022.
  • Martell, D.L. 2022. Wildfire Management: An Operational Research Perspective. Special invited tutorial delivered at the 2022 CORS/INFORMS International Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, June 5, 2022.
  • Martell, D.L., Ansell, M., Buttazzoni, C., Fellini, N. and Evens, J. 2019. A Daily Airtanker Deployment Decision Support System. Paper presented at INFORMS Annual Meeting. Seattle, Washington, October 20, 2019.
  • Martell, D.L., Ansell, M., Buttazzoni, C. and Evens, J. 2019. Development of a Daily Airtanker Deployment Decision Support System. Paper presented at the Canadian Operational Research Society Annual Meeting. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. May 28, 2019.
  • Martell, D.L. 2018. Evaluating Alternative Models for Evaluating the Daily Deployment of Airtankers for Forest Fire Suppression. Paper presented at the INFORMS Annual Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona. November 4, 2018.
  • Martell, D.L. 2018. Operational Research Applications in Forest Fire Management: Some Lessons Learned, Important Open Problems and Emerging Challenges. Paper presented at the Canadian Operational Research Society Annual Meeting, Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 5, 2018