Jake Bova

1. Real-Time Immersive Wildfire Simulation Master’s thesis
   University of Montana, 2026

   Master’s thesis, 2026

   Real-time immersive wildfire simulation: a game engine approach

   Fast models that account for how a fire changes the wind around it, shown in 3D in a game engine for training and public communication.

   Read on ScholarWorks

2. 

   Award, 2025

   Unreal Engine fire visualization

   Winner of the SERDP/ESTCP Virtual Wildfire Modeling & Immersive Training Prize Challenge 2025.

   Watch the video on YouTube

3. 

   Journal paper, Fire (MDPI)

   Investigating the impact of aerial firefighting on rate of wildfire spread

   Using machine learning to measure how aerial suppression changes how fast a fire grows.

   Read the paper

4. 

   Preprint, arXiv

   Improved wildfire spread prediction with time-series data and the WSTS+ benchmark

   Time-series models for next-day fire spread, plus an expanded benchmark dataset.

   Read on arXiv

5. 

   Paper, ResearchGate

   Predicting fire severity in Montana using a random forest classification scheme

   A random forest classifier for burn severity across Montana fires.

   Read on ResearchGate

• Antarctic subglacial lake prediction Machine learning
• Missoula 911 calls analysis Data analysis
• De Bruijn graph visualizer Bioinformatics
• Live weather dashboard Web app
• Stack Overflow tag network Network graph
• Alaskan snow crab study Geospatial
• Western wildfire explorer Interactive map
• Did smartphones kill Bigfoot? Data story

More code on GitHub.

1. 2024 – 2026

   Graduate researcher

   University of Montana

   Wildfire management and prevention research using machine learning. Real-world fuel visualization using 3D tools.

2. Summer 2023

   Software consultant intern

   ATG Cognizant

   Worked with other interns on small internal projects and produced recommendations and deliverables for an external client. After the internship, the client hired me as an independent contractor to continue the project.

3. 2022 – 2026

   Research assistant

   University of Montana

   Part of a research team pairing machine learning with large-scale geospatial data operations using an in-house toolkit. I gather and clean data, build predictive models, and create visualizations.

4. 2021 – 2022

   Tech consultant

   Geek Squad

   Troubleshot and fixed a wide range of consumer electronics issues, and explained technical problems to clients in plain terms.

• Master of Science in Computer Science

  University of Montana, August 2026

  Research in machine learning for wildfire: fuel visualization, spread prediction, fire simulation, and more. Thesis: Real-time immersive wildfire simulation: a game engine approach.

• Bachelor of Computer Science

  University of Montana, 2024

  Graduated magna cum laude with a minor in mathematics. Coursework in machine learning, statistics, web development, and database design.

• Associate Degree in Computer Programming

  Pittsburgh Technical College, 2019

  3.9 GPA, Dean’s List all 8 quarters.

• High school diploma

  Frenchtown High School, 2014

  National Honor Society, 3.8 GPA.