University of Richmond students are working to protect communities from extreme heat. In partnership with geography professor Todd Lookingbill, students and a team of volunteers are using heat-mapping technology to find out which communities in Richmond are at risk during extreme heat waves. The researchers and volunteers take to the streets with thermal temperature sensors, and then record temperatures and humidity levels during the hottest time of the summer. 

UR was among more than a dozen Virginia colleges and universities to participate in the largest heat-mapping study of its kind ever conducted, Lookingbill said. 

“Our team is building on data collected during a previous temperature campaign in 2017, and that data is already being used by Richmond and in student-authored publications to help identify vulnerable areas in our community,” he said. “These are targets for new trees, parks, and other cooling measures.” 

Seniors Sarah Page Steffens and Hector Gomez helped organize dozens of community volunteers, who drove around the city mapping temperature and air quality.

“I have been able to apply concepts learned in the classroom to real life scenarios with this research,” Steffens said. “Rising temperatures due to climate change disproportionately affect communities. Those with fewer trees and green spaces and more impervious surfaces and asphalt due to old city planning decisions often are a lot warmer than communities that have more tree cover.” 

She noted that increased temperatures may lead to adverse health effects.

“We can use that data to make future city planning decisions like planting trees and implementing new parks, so we can help those communities be better at withstanding these rising temperatures in the future.”