Bryan Kerns is a math and fire science teacher at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, Tennessee. He holds a Bachelor of Science in secondary education-mathematics from Tennessee Tech University, and a Master of Arts in teaching from Grand Canyon University.

In 2018, while still a math teacher, Kerns had the idea to form a high school wildland firefighter training club that has now grown into a full fire and emergency services program of study. The Dobyns-Bennett Fire Program includes three levels of fire courses, a capstone work-based learning experience, a dual enrollment emergency medical technician certification and a prescribed burn team. The prescribed burn team is a one-of-a-kind educational experience in which the students conduct controlled burns in the region, many of which are integral parts of native grassland and wildlife habitat restoration projects. The program has produced more than 30 young men and women now working in fire and emergency services careers across the country.

Kerns’ work in building this unique fire program has earned him invitations to speak at both the North Carolina and Tennessee Prescribed Fire Council annual meetings, the Southern Blue Ridge Fire Learning Network annual workshop, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, the Longleaf Alliance biannual meeting and a seat at the Elevating America’s Grasslands Retreat. Additionally, the Dobyns-Bennett Fire Program was featured by Forbes in February 2024.

Kerns serves as the president of the Bays Mountain Park Association Board and is the Southern Blue Ridge Fire Learning Network landscape lead for the Unaka and Great Smoky Mountains landscape.