Keynote Speakers

Zeke Lunder

Zeke is a wildfire expert and host of The Lookout(opens in new window) website and YouTube channel, where he provides rich storytelling on how wildfires behave, impact landscapes, and contribute to ecological processes.

He helped pioneer the use of digital tools at fire camps to map and predict fire behavior. As a longtime local resident, he has worked on some of the largest wildfires in the Western United States, including the Dixie Fire in 2021 and the Park Fire in 2024.

With more than 25 years of experience in wildfire management, prescribed fire, and fire ecology, Zeke has seen action from the Sierra Nevada to the Appalachian Mountains. A graduate of Chico State (Geography, ’96), he has dedicated his career to advancing fire science, land stewardship, and crisis communication.

As a subject matter expert featured in documentaries such as Rebuilding Paradise and recently quoted in the New York Times during the wildfires in Los Angeles, he specializes in wildfire behavior analysis, risk assessment, and prescribed fire education. His expertise supports agencies such as CAL FIRE and the U.S. Department of the Interior, along with grassroots fire-management initiatives.

With a deep commitment to improving wildfire response and community resilience, Zeke is passionate about sustainable land management while leading training, research, and public outreach on the role of fire in our ecosystems.

Lindsey Nenadal

Dr. Lindsey Nenadal loves being back at her alma mater with the amazing students, faculty, and staff in the Department of Child Development. After receiving her B.A. in Liberal Studies and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from California State University, Chico, Dr. Nenadal taught elementary school in Huntington Park and the Koreatown/MacArthur Park neighborhoods in Los Angeles. She also had a wonderful opportunity to provide professional development and support to elementary, middle, and high school teachers throughout the Los Angeles region. 

Inspired by her time in the classroom, Dr. Nenadal went back to school to earn her M.A. and Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in Human Development and Psychology from UCLA. her research focuses on teachers' beliefs about biases based on social class; curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation focused on social issues; the effects of poverty on children's development; and how to support children and families after a natural disaster. In addition to teaching and conducting research, Dr. Nenadal is the Faculty Advisor for the Child Development Student Association and loves working with all of its wonderful student members. 

To access resources, hear about upcoming events, and see the work that Dr. Nenadal and her students are doing please visit her website(opens in new window).

To read more about her work focused on supporting children and families after a natural disaster, please visit her Psychology Today blog(opens in new window).

Tom Maiorana

Tom Maiorana is a designer and artist who uses prototyping to develop digital experiences, physical products, apparel, shoes, services and organizational change. His work recently has been featured at the Exploratorium, AIGA/IDSA’s Better Together Exhibit. Tom is also the founder and principal at Red Cover Studios, an innovation consultancy. In 2015, Red Cover Studios helped conceptualize and launch the Hive(opens in new window), a creativity center at the Claremont Colleges.

His keynote at This Way to Resilience, “Playing with Fire,” will examine how game-based learning can help communities prepare for wildfires by simulating evacuation scenarios.

“Games can create a visceral experience by hinting at some of the stress and pressures that would occur in an actual evacuation,” he says. “Because it’s not a life-and-death situation, players can think in more creative ways and be far more prepared in the case of an actual wildfire.”

Tom co-leads the Product Design Lab(opens in new window) at University of California, Davis with Beth Ferguson. He teaches Human-Centered Design, Prototyping: Objects to Systems, Furniture Design, and Studio Practices in Industrial Design.