Senior Sustainability Scientist and engineer Mikhail Chester is teaming with experts from University of California, Los Angeles to study Phoenix and LA's susceptibility to rising temperatures. Specific at-risk communities usually fall in the low-income areas, where people have poor access to air conditioning, clean water, and shade.
The ASU/UCLA team is particularly interested in how urban infrastructure can help alleviate the negative side effects of increasing urban temperatures. The National Science Foundation is funding the research, awarding $480,000 over the next four years. The researchers hope they will find very specific construction and design methods that can protect people from the threat of heat.