He joined the faculty at CSU, Chico in fall 2005 upon completion of his doctoral research on fire in riparian ecosystems. He has worked professionally for a variety of federal, tribal, and nongovernmental agencies as a wildlife biologist and environmental planner. Hankins’s interest in fire for wildlife management and conservation extends back to his undergraduate years. He has recently collaborated with Australian filmmaker Victor Steffensen on the documentary Fire and the Story, which is intended to educate people about Aboriginal fire-use practices. A chapter of this film features Hankins’s dissertation research site near Woodland, California. A preview to this film is viewable at http://www.blackvine.com.au/popup2go/fire.html. Hankins also is the vice president of the California Association of Fire Ecology and a member of the Butte County Fire Safe Council.