Dr. Matt Hinds-Aldrich, or “Dr. Matt”, has led a number of national initiatives and projects to improve how fire departments across the country and globe collect, analyze, and use data to focus their efforts, improve their operations, and demonstrate their value. At AAIS, he helps lead the development, expansion, and adoption of the FLAMES (Fire Loss and Mitigation Evaluation Score) methodology for insurers to assess local fire protection and mitigation efforts.

Dr. Matt previously worked for the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), leading the development of a new national fire data system, the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department as a Senior Management Analyst, and at Anna Maria College as an Assistant Professor and interim Fire Science Program Director. His Ph.D. research at the University of Kent (England) focused on occupational culture and specifically the much-lauded and lambasted concept of firefighter culture. He has researched and written extensively on the concept of behavioral economics in public safety and the unfortunate topic of firefighters arrested for setting fires. His work has appeared in several national and international publications and has been presented at major conferences across the U.S. and Britain.

As a qualitative researcher who accidentally became the “data guy”, Dr. Matt’s interest in data is primarily focused on helping fire departments understand and navigate the parallel paradigm shifts transforming the fire service: community risk reduction and performance management.