I was a Middle School teacher who burnt out during the pandemic. I decided to retrain into a fully different field, and Fire Protection Engineering was too interesting to ignore.
Tori Latham '25
Pronouns: She/They
Hometown: New Castle, California
Tori Latham is an undergraduate student at the Department of Fire Protection Engineering.
She joined the program after dedicating years to a Middle School teaching career, after the covid-19 pandemic left her burned out. Looking to pivot into a different field, Latham found out about fire protection engineering, and felt too intrigued to resist.
“I decided to retrain into a fully different field, and Fire Protection Engineering was too interesting to ignore,” she said.
Originally from New Castle, California, Latham’s academic interests for preventing or researching wildfires and house fires come from a concern for her home state, which is known for its susceptibility to seasonal wildfires.
As an active member of the University of Maryland student chapter for the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, her role contributes to the on-campus community that bring FPE students together to prepare them to step into the field.
Looking into the near future, Latham hopes to land an unique internship, and in two years, she will decide between pursuing a graduate degree in fire safety or beginning her career as a professional engineer.
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