Akli Benali holds a PhD from the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), University of Lisbon, and is a specialist in wildland fire science. His work focuses on fire behavior modelling, risk analysis, and remote sensing, with a strong emphasis on translating scientific knowledge into practical decision-support tools for wildfire prevention and suppression. He actively collaborates with the Decision Support Unit for Wildfire Analysis of the Portuguese National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection, contributing to the integration of scientific tools into operational fire management. He has extensive experience coordinating applied research projects across wildfire prevention, pre-suppression, and suppression.
Akli Benali is Vice-President of NERO – the Network on Extreme Fire Behaviour, a European network dedicated to the study of extreme wildfire dynamics, and co-founder of PyroScape, a consultancy company specializing in wildfire risk management and strategic planning.