KER Annual Report 2024

Solve. Share. Discover.

[Table of Contents]

Light rail stop outside of the Rob and Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health, home of the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience.

Directors’ welcome

“The Sum of Us” inspires reflection on KER’s six years of building community resilience and social cohesion

Dear Friends,

As we reflect on the past six years since our journey began in 2018, we are filled with immense gratitude and inspiration. The Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (KER) has grown from a pioneering initiative into a dynamic force, driven by our collective commitment to fostering resilience within our communities. Many thanks go to the “sum of you” as supporters, collaborators, and participants. The Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (KER) has thrived on the collective strength of our community, and your unwavering engagement in the important work to Share, Discover, and Solve has been the driving force behind our ability to address this mission. This year, we embrace the theme “The Sum of Us,” emphasizing the critical importance of social cohesion, equity, and inclusion in building a resilient future, taking inspiration from Heather McGhee, our keynote speaker for the Celebration for Resilience. Her ideas and words inspire us to reflect on this journey taken with you.

Looking back, we have navigated through a myriad of challenges. The global pandemic, economic uncertainties, social injustices, and the ever-

present threat of climate change have tested our resilience in unprecedented ways. Each year brought new hurdles, but also remarkable stories of strength and unity. These experiences have underscored that true resilience is not built in isolation but through the combined efforts of all of us and for all of us. These experiences have underscored a fundamental truth: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

2018: The beginning of us

We set out with a vision to create an enabling environment to exchange knowledge that would connect ASU research with community action. Our initial efforts focused on identifying key resilience challenges and forging partnerships across Maricopa County. This foundational year was about building trust, gathering data, and setting the stage for impactful collaborations. We identified vulnerabilities and assets, making sure our driving questions were connected to the community from the very first mile.

2019: Laying the groundwork together

We expanded our network, engaging with local organizations, governments, and residents to pilot innovative resilience strategies. The focus was on understanding community needs and leveraging academic insights to address real-world problems. This groundwork enabled us to start creating tangible solutions through data sharing and joint discovery.

2020: Facing the pandemic

As we all know, the year 2020 brought the unforeseen challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic that truly affected all of us, and some more so than others. Our Maricopa County communities faced significant hardships, yet we witnessed extraordinary resilience. From reconfiguring supply chains to meet food security demands to supporting small businesses in accessing relief funds, our community’s collective response highlighted the power of social cohesion and adaptability.

2021: Scaling pp - growing who is “us”

We transitioned from Phase I to Phase II, scaling up our efforts to create sustained, equitable community resilience not just in Maricopa County, but increasingly across the state and nation. We focused on expanding our impact through strategic initiatives, such as integrating data tools to enhance understanding and actions that promote equity. Our mission evolved to address the interconnected challenges of food security, urban heat, housing, and economic resilience as our local place is situated into broader contexts.

2022: Deepening impact

We embraced an upstream approach, proactively addressing systemic issues before they escalate into crises. Our work with the Council of Resilience Leaders exemplified this strategy, as we engaged influential figures to expand our knowledge and drive action. This year was marked by deepened

In unity and hope,

Libby Wentz Director and Principal Investigator, Knowledge Exchange for Resilience Vice Provost and Dean, Graduate College wentz@asu.edu

partnerships and increased focus on policy solutions, private sector engagement, and federal collaborations.

2023: Mobilizing solutions

Summer 2023 marked the hottest year on record, bringing the impacts of climate change to the forefront. We centered our efforts on solutions that could unite communities and inspire action amidst adversity. Our fellows and partners continued to advance innovative solutions, reinforcing our commitment to a resilient future. We served our community through generating the report of recommendations informing the first statewide heat preparedness plan for Arizona, inspiring policies and action that will serve us all for years to come.

2024: The sum of us

This year, we are reminded once again how resilience is a collective endeavor. Our theme, “The Sum of Us,” captures the essence of social cohesion and the continued need for inclusive approaches to overcome challenges, shocks, and ongoing stresses. While we may not have fully yet realized the transformative potential of connecting ASU research and stakeholders for resilience, we have seen incremental progress towards resilience, in no small part due to attention to equity and inclusion throughout our work. These are not just ethical imperatives but practical necessities for building stronger, more resilient communities. The future depends on our ability to work together, share knowledge, and support one another.

As you explore this annual report, you will find stories of resilience, innovative projects, and the dedicated efforts of our team and partners. These pages reflect our shared journey and the transformative power of collaboration.

Thank you for your unwavering support and for being an integral part of the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience. Together, we will continue to share, discover, and solve, ensuring that the sum of our efforts leads to a more resilient and equitable world.

Patricia Solís Executive Director patricia.solís@asu.edu

The Council of Resilience Leaders, made up of influential individuals from across the county representing private, nonprofit and public sectors, serve as knowledgeable ambassadors for resilience work. Read more on page 57.

The KER fellowship program brought together representatives from across the University and community to conduct collaborative research and resilience projects. Read more about this year’s Alumni Cohort Teams (ACT) on page 34.

[Our Mission]

The mission of the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience is to support Maricopa County, Arizona, by sharing knowledge, catalyzing discovery, and building solutions to catalyze change in order to build community resilience. We work to support profound and enduring change across organizations to bring resilience dividends.

ASU is, and remains, committed to all things associated with the success of our communities, including finding ways to facilitate actionable response to maintaining our resilience going forward.

MICHAEL CROW PRESIDENT, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY KER COUNCIL OF RESILIENCE LEADERS

Design Aspirations

Leverage our place

Embrace our culture, socioeconomic and physical setting.

$

Network of over 250 partners

across multiple sectors and diverse communities within Arizona focusing on fundamental components of resilience, such as housing, financial wellbeing, shelter from extreme heat, and food security

Value entrepreneurship

34,497,430+

Use knowledge and encourage innovation.

Knowledge Alliances Tool researcher keyword matches.

In our patent-pending University-community partnership software.

Conduct use-inspired research

Our research has purpose and impact.

110+ peer-reviewed publications

75 Fellows working to make meaningful change on issues we face today, and upstream.

Including many written by both academic scholars together with community co-authors.

Fuse intellectual disciplines

Create knowledge by transcending academic disciplines.

KER has engaged with over 400 faculty, staff, and students across ASU’s many colleges and fields through KER-sponsored events, projects, use-inspired research convenings, fellows and scholars’ programs.

These individuals represent 90+ units, programs, and grant-funded initiatives throughout ASU.

Engage globally

Engage with people and issues locally nationally, and internationally.

Student workers, staff, and faculty from at least 16 countries Kuwait, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Brazil, India, Nepal, Iran, Canada, US, Ghana, China, Belarus, Navajo Nation, and more...

1,198 crowdsourcing volunteers from 20+ countries

Through the YouthMappers network, our mapping for resilience activities to locate Arizona populations vulnerable to heat enlisted the expertise of hundreds of digital humanitarians from around the world!

Enable student success

89 student workers

Commit to the success of each unique student.

counting undergrad and grad students including fellows and scholars

Be socially embedded

77,235 hours of student work since 2018

Connect with communities through mutually beneficial partnerships.

57% of the individuals who have engaged with KER are from outside

Transform society

Catalyze social change by being connected to social needs.

KER research led to 1 law passing the Arizona Legislature UNANIMOUSLY that protects 8.9% of Arizona households.

Practice principled innovation

Place character and values at the center of decisions and actions.

The Sum of Us.

KER has been serving one population holistically-

Share. Solve. Discover.

We bring diverse people from across sectors together to share data, resources and lived experiences. Our approach honors community partners in a central role in driving the research process to identify vulnerabilities, uncover assets and root causes, and develop potential solutions.

An expert panel of KER affiliates were assembled to speak to the Department of the Interior at the Bureau of Land Management Training Facility to address extreme heat.

Unleashing the power of collaboration

How the Knowledge Alliances Tool (KAT) is revolutionizing partnerships

Finding the right partnerships can be a daunting task in a world where information is abundant and connections are paramount.

The Knowledge Alliances Tool (KAT), an innovative solution designed to bridge the gap between organizations and researchers, has been built and shaped by KER since 2020, led by inventors Associate Director Mason Matthews and Senior Data Manager Brajesh Karna.

Developed with cutting-edge technology like Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Semantic Network Analysis (SNA), KAT is transforming how collaborations are found, formed and nurtured.

The engine behind KAT

KAT leverages a sophisticated data processing methodology to uncover relationships among

entities, be they organizations, researchers, or both.

This tool sifts through a vast array of publicly available information, including:

• University websites

• Google Scholar

• Resumes/CVs,

• Publication and proposal abstracts

• Organization websites

By doing so, KAT identifies potential partnerships that might otherwise go unnoticed.

The tool’s AI-driven information retrieval and entity identification features stand out. Users can upload documents such as abstracts and

workers.

Pictured clockwise from top left: Brajesh Karna, Amal Shifwath Shaik, Akshay Reddy Kola, Aayush Dipenkumar Kansara, Aayushi, Kevin Vora, Hritika Mishra, Saketh Angirekula, and Archit Agrawal. *Not

proposals, and KAT employs large language model (LLM) generated embeddings to deliver semantic search results.

These results highlight exact matches and provide explanations for the identified entities, offering a comprehensive understanding of potential collaborators.

Expert identification and collaboration

One of KAT’s most powerful features is its expert identification capability. Users can find experts based on specific areas of expertise or any keywords they provide. The tool returns results from exact keyword matches and semantic searches, ensuring a broad and thorough search.

Additionally, users can tag these experts for future reference, export the data, or send mass emails for further collaboration, streamlining the process of building a network of specialists.

Advanced data handling and security

KAT’s functionality extends beyond single keyword searches. Users can upload CSV files with multiple keywords and combinations, allowing for comprehensive results that can be downloaded for further analysis. This feature is particularly useful for large-scale information gathering and strategic planning.

Stringent authentication and security measures are in place to protect user data, ensuring that sensitive information remains secure.

A treasure trove of data

The tool is a powerhouse of knowledge featuring information on:

• 19,000+ organizations

• 43,000+ researchers/faculties

• 305,000+ publications indexed

Supporting the future of collaboration

KAT is a key component of the team powering the National Science Foundation Engines Southwest Sustainabiliy Innovation Engine collaboration, an initiative supporting the expansion of this patentpending tool. This collaboration aims to enhance the tool’s capabilities and extend its benefits to a broader audience, fostering a more connected and collaborative research environment.

The Knowledge Alliances Tool is more than just a tool; it is a revolution in how partnerships are identified and formed. By leveraging advanced technologies and a vast repository of data, this KER project is paving the way for more efficient, effective, and meaningful collaborations. ■

Learn more at resilience.asu.edu/alliances

Discover the future of collaboration with the Knowledge Alliances Tool (KAT). Scan to explore how AIdriven technology is transforming partnerships in research and innovation.

pictured: Ansh Tiwari and Nikhil Kumar.

Arizona experience takes center stage at national extreme heat policy innovation summit

“For so long we thought about heat as the silent killer. … But it’s not invisible anymore,” declared Jainey Bavishi, NOAA Deputy Administrator, at the inaugural Extreme Heat Policy Innovation Summit held in Washington, D.C., this past April.

Co-hosted the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) and KER, the summit marked a pivotal moment in the national dialogue on climate resilience. As extreme heat events become increasingly frequent and severe, the summit underscored the urgent need for innovative policies and collaborative efforts to protect communities across the nation.

The Extreme Heat Policy Innovation Summit was a landmark event that brought together experts, policymakers, and community leaders to address the growing threat of extreme heat. The focus was on sharing practical strategies for mitigating heat-related risks, with sessions dedicated to community engagement, policy innovation, and the critical role of technology.

Libby Wentz moderates an Arizona State panel with Maren Mahoney, Eugene Livar, Amy St. Peter and David Hondula

Event highlight_

“It is critical that we are building a community of practice around extreme heat,” emphasized Braden Kay, California’s Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program Manager. “We need to share policy ideas, infrastructure solutions, program lessons learned, and the latest research.”

The summit was designed not just as a forum for discussion but as a catalyst for action. “We’re seeing these [heat] events. They’re becoming more commonplace. And I think government is now responding appropriately to protect people, to protect communities, to protect infrastructure and our economy,” Bavishi noted, underscoring the increasing visibility and urgency of the issue.

Arizona in the spotlight

One of the summit’s key highlights was the spotlight on Arizona, a state that has become emblematic of the challenges posed by extreme heat. In 2023, Arizona experienced its hottest summer on record, drawing national attention and highlighting the state’s vulnerability to rising temperatures.

“[During the 2023 heat wave] we heard from legislators, community leaders, and others that there was a notable increase in need for more resources and an emergency response,” said Maren Mahoney, Director of the Arizona Governor’s Office of Resiliency. This prompted Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs to issue Executive Order 2023-16, directing state agencies to develop a comprehensive Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan.

The Governor’s Office of Resiliency requested the support of the broader academic community to inform their planning process. KER produced a new report that addresses the development of this statewide plan. The mission of KER is to build resilient communities in Maricopa County, Arizona and beyond, by sharing knowledge, discovering vulnerabilities, and responding to challenges together. KER works to advance social cohesion, promote economic prosperity, and enhance environmental security to create profound and enduring change that brings resilience dividends.

KER utilized a variety of tools to help the Interagency Resiliency Forum visualize, examine, and find intersectional meaning to inform joint strategies and decision frameworks to address extreme heat and resilience across Arizona. These will all help to create a heat preparedness plan while relying on the many partners and experiences of the heat resilience community. Creating this strategy takes issues of heat equity and increased risk of heatrelated illness for vulnerable populations into account.

On October 4, a letter from the Director of the Office of the Governor’s Office of Resiliency requested KER to initiate, operate, and execute a Request for Information process on behalf of the Governor’s lnteragency Resiliency Forum. This report includes critical context about extreme heat and its impacts, four Priority Action Domains, ideas on how to engage federal partners, and a categorized set of 43 unique and specific recommendations prepared with input from various agencies and stakeholders drawing upon many years of research and practice. KER’s report advocates for a statewide, integrated approach that calls for commitment and collaboration across many state agencies, and across all sectors, from public to private, nonprofit and academic actors.

At the event, KER released its Recommendations Report to the Arizona Governor’s Office on Extreme Heat Preparedness to the public, a document that played a crucial role in shaping Arizona’s official state plan. An advance copy of this report was instrumental in helping the Office of Resiliency craft a strategy that aligns with the realities of Arizona’s unique climate challenges.

Key recommendations and their implications

The plan’s recommendations include expanding cooling centers, enhancing public health monitoring, and improving urban planning to mitigate the urban heat island effect. These measures are designed to protect vulnerable populations and ensure that Arizona’s communities are better prepared for future heatwaves.

The collaborative approach outlined in KER’s report is seen as essential for building a resilient future, not just in Arizona but across the nation. The report’s emphasis on data-driven decisionmaking and community-focused strategies has set a new standard for how states can approach extreme heat preparedness.

The report lays out 43 specific recommendations designed to enhance the state’s resilience to extreme heat. These recommendations cover a broad range of areas, including public health initiatives, infrastructure improvements, and community engagement strategies. Key among these recommendations was the establishment of the Chief Heat Officer role, a position now held by Eugene Livar within the Arizona Department of Health Services.

The report’s emphasis on collaboration across state agencies and sectors highlights the importance of a unified approach to tackling extreme heat. It advocates for a statewide, integrated response that leverages the expertise of public, private, and academic partners.

A call to action for nationwide change

As the two-day event concluded, the message was clear: addressing extreme heat requires not just localized efforts but a unified approach that leverages the strengths of diverse sectors. The discussions held in Washington, D.C., and the strategies outlined in KER’s report are poised to influence the policies of tomorrow, both in Arizona and across the nation.

“We are at the beginning of creating extreme heat policy,” said Kay. “This means we can create policy and programs targeted at saving the lives of the most vulnerable people—older adults, pregnant people, outdoor workers, people experiencing homelessness, and children.”

Arizona’s leadership in this area serves as a powerful example of how states can innovate and adapt to the growing challenges of a changing climate.

“We envision an Arizona that anticipates and successfully responds to extreme heat, ensuring safety, well-being, and prosperity for all Arizonans,” said Solís. “This approach aims not only to manage current challenges but also to project and prepare for future climatic conditions, serving as an innovative inspiration for the rest of

Day 2 of the Summit was held at ASU Barrett & O’Connor Center in Washington, DC, and featured flash talks from KER representatives in the Decision Theater downstairs, and policy sprints with a diverse group of stakeholders upstairs.

Book launch: A guide to investing in resilient communities

KER partnered with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the RAZA Development Fund, and the New York Federal Reserve to host an impactful book tour event for the title “What’s Possible: Investing NOW for Prosperous, Sustainable Communities.”

The book tour featured prominent authors and experts who have contributed significantly to the field of resilience. Through panel discussions, interactive sessions, and book signings, attendees had the opportunity to delve into the latest research and case studies.

The event also served as a platform for networking and fostering collaborations among various stakeholders committed to building stronger, more resilient communities. By hosting this book tour, ASU’s KER, along with LISC, the RAZA Development Fund, and the New York Federal Reserve, reinforced their dedication to promoting resilience and empowering communities to thrive amidst adversity.

What’s Possible offers practical solutions for clean energy, resilience, and equity. It’s intended as a playbook for taking collective action to build a stronger, more inclusive future. The book, offered as a free download, is available from the Federal Reserve of New York Website. ■

Download or order printed copies

KER expertise featured in FEMA webinars centered on extreme heat initiatives and resilience

Resilient and Ready Seminar Series: Addressing system-wide impacts of extreme heat

In the heart of the 2024 heat season, Sarah M. Bassett, Libby Wentz and Patricia Solís, were featured as expert panelists at FEMA’s Resilient and Ready Seminar Series. The series, dedicated to addressing the system-wide impacts of extreme heat, saw these leaders share their insights on how extreme heat affects everything from infrastructure to human health. The seminar, conducted in collaboration with FEMA’s Medical Division, drew hundreds of attendees, including agency employees from headquarters, regional offices, and field operations.

The presentation highlighted how KER’s approach to resilience—grounded in knowledge sharing and community engagement—aligns with FEMA’s goals of preparing and protecting communities nationwide. By focusing on the intersection of extreme heat and public health, the seminar emphasized the urgent need for systemic responses to climate challenges, echoing KER’s mission to foster resilience in the face of growing environmental pressures.

2024 Partnership Forum: Exploring resilience through film and dialogue

Later in the year, KER played a pivotal role in the 2024 Partnership Forum, co-hosted by FEMA’s Resilient Nation Partnership Network (RNPN) and the Sundance Institute. This forum, designed to foster collaboration and innovation in resilience-building efforts, provided a platform for KER to contribute to a national conversation on extreme heat. Patricia Solís represented KER on a panel that explored the implications of extreme heat, drawing connections to the documentary “The Hottest August” by Brett Story.

The session, attended by 253 participants and subsequently viewed by over 330 people on YouTube, featured powerful discussions on resilience, nature-based solutions, and the societal impacts of climate change. Participant feedback highlighted the deep resonance of the conversation, with one attendee noting that “Resilience is already required for the underserved...there is hope because that is where it lives: in the hearts of those who have looked survival in the eyes.” ■

Scan to watch the 2024 Partnership Forum panel on resilience and climate change.

“Extreme Heat _ Apocalypse Pop-Up Café_”_ ignites interdisciplinary imaginations

What happens when nearly 40 experts from over fifteen disciplines converge to tackle one of the most pressing challenges of our time—extreme heat?

The result is a powerful exchange of ideas that not only pushes the boundaries of existing research but also uncovers new opportunities for collaboration and action.

The Global Futures Laboratory recently hosted a collaborative apocalypse pop-up café designed to collaboratively explore physical, social, and emotional infrastructures in managing extreme heat risks. The event brought together minds from across ten colleges, including representatives from arts, communications, education, engineering, economics, environmental science, health, planning, public administration, psychology, and sustainability.

Organized by Athena Aktipis (pictured top center), Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, Assistant Director of Research at GFL, and Director of the Interdisciplinary Cooperation Initiative, with co-organizers Sarah M. Bassett (pictured top left), Professor of Practice in the School of Public Affairs and Co-Director of the Resilient Visions CoLab, and Ariane Middel (pictured top right), Associate Professor in the School of Arts Media and Engineering, Director of the SHaDE Lab, and President of the International Association of Urban Climate, this luncheon was more than just a meeting—it was a catalyst for cross-disciplinary cooperation. Participants engaged in vibrant discussions on how rising temperatures impact various sectors and communities, emphasizing the

importance of resilience in both immediate and long-term strategies.

One of the key outcomes of the event was the development of a “knowledge to action” set of recommendations. These actionable strategies were not just theoretical; they were practical insights designed to be implemented across various fields to enhance heat resilience. These recommendations were subsequently disseminated to the broader GFL network on “Incorporating Heat Resilience into Daily Life.”

The event’s success can be measured not only by the diversity of participants and disciplines involved but also by the tangible results it produced. New perspectives on extreme heat were uncovered, and participants identified numerous opportunities for future collaboration, making this pop-up event a model for how interdisciplinary cooperation can drive real-world solutions to global challenges.

By creating a space where diverse disciplines could come together, the Global Futures Laboratory has once again demonstrated its commitment to leading the conversation on risk and resilience in a changing world. ■

US Department of Interior welcomes KER-affiliated experts to extreme heat interactive panel

The Department of the Interior took a proactive step in tackling extreme heat by hosting a specialized panel on April 17, 2024, as part of its annual agencywide training.

The panel brought together a range of experts to discuss the multifaceted impacts of rising temperatures. Participants from various DOI bureaus and offices, each with unique experiences in managing natural hazards, engaged in discussions aimed at enhancing the department’s preparedness and response strategies. Key topics included community needs, thermal comfort, emergency management, infrastructure resilience, and ecosystem impacts, providing comprehensive insights to inform DOI’s approach to extreme heat.

Panelists included Sarah Bassett, Augie Gastelum, Melissa Guardaro, Dave Hondula, Rev. Katie Sexton, Melanie Tluczek, and Ryan Winkle.

Tracking physical activity in Arizona elementary schools

Schools play an essential role in offering children and adolescents opportunities for physical activity and play.

Schools play an essential role in offering children and adolescents opportunities for physical activity and play. As a recent alumnus of the Active Schools & Communities lab at ASU, KER postdoc Kylie Wilson contributes to managing an annual survey of physical activity policies and practices in Arizona’s elementary schools - a project started and led by Assistant Professor Allison Poulos (College of Health Solutions) and Professor Pamela Hodges Kulinna (Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College) in partnership with the Arizona Department of Education. Fall 2023 marked the fourth administration of the statewide survey. In addition to scholarly work produced from the project’s results, the Arizona Department of Education manages an interactive dashboard of physical education offerings throughout the state and data is shared annually with a national team who developed a dashboard to display uniform school physical activity surveillance systems across states. ■

Share In the news

Engaging with the media plays a critical role in our knowledge exchange, allowing us to share information with a wider audience, connect with new partners and scale our impact beyond the borders of our county. Our team contributed its expertise to the following stories this year.

National

Associate Press. (2024, August 2) Heat deaths of people without air conditioning, often in mobile homes, underscore energy inequity. apnews.com/article/extreme-heatdeaths-air-conditioning-095cc1820abab04ed9 729c6de73f21ce

NBC Nightly News. (2024, June). 21 million people under heat alerts amid record-shattering temperatures. www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/ video/21-million-people-underheat-alerts-amid-record-shatteringtemperatures-212544581593

Newsletter Inspiration Feature. (2024, June) Talking Climate, “Heat can kill – here’s how to help!” Katharine Hayhoe, bit.ly/4bFEMz8

New York Times . Searcey, D. (2024, June 7). EMTs Get a New Way to Treat Heat Victims: Body-Sized Ice Cocoons. www.nytimes. com/2024/06/07/climate/heat-victims-emtice-body-bags.html

CBS News. Sganga, N. (2024, June 5). How Phoenix is preparing for record summer heat. www.cbsnews.com/ video/how-phoenix-is-preparing-forrecord-summer-heat/

Politico. Wittenberg, A. (2024, May 28). ‘Just brutal’: Why America’s hottest city is seeing a surge in deaths. Politico. www.politico.com/ news/2024/05/28/americas-hottest-cityphoenix-00158243

New America. (2024, April). Using FEAT to build statewide dashboards in Arizona, Florida, and Indiana. www.newamerica.org/future-landhousing/reports/building-and-scaling-feat/usingfeat-to-build-statewide-dashboards-in-arizonaflorida-and-indiana/

Federation of American Scientists. (2024). The Federation of American Scientists Presents Policy Proposals to Address the Human Toll of Extreme Heat, Hosts Summit with Arizona State University. fas.org/publication/policy-to-address-the-humantoll-of-extreme-heat/

Century Lives Podcast. Garzon, C. (2023, November 15). Heat is (not) My Jam. Stanford Center for Longevity. Season 4, Episode 3. podcasts.apple.com/it/podcast/century-lives/ id1600794395

Local

KJZZ (2024, July 1) Here and Now, “How changes to federal funding allocation can help more Arizonans with cooling costs.” Radio interview Lauren Gilger. bit.ly/kjzzliheap724

KJZZ (2024, May 17) Here and Now, “People in mobile homes are disproportionately vulnerable to heat. Emergency Arizona law helps.” Radio interview, Kirsten Dorman. bit. ly/463jPxc

National Public Radio. (2024, 3 May) “Can you survive summer indoors without AC? In Arizona, many don’t.” Peter O’Dowd, wbur. fm/3QBZp7X

AZ Family. (2024, May). Arizona health and government officials step up to reduce heat related deaths this summer. www.azfamily. com/2024/05/04/arizona-health-governmentofficials-step-up-reduce-heat-related-deathsthis-summer/

AZ Family. (2024, April). See what’s new as Maricopa County prepares to launch expanded heat relief efforts. www.azfamily. com/2024/04/30/see-whats-new-maricopacounty-prepares-launch-expanded-heat-reliefefforts/

KJZZ. (2024, March). Arizona announces new statewide heat officer, plans for relief after record deaths in 2023. www.kjzz.org/202403-01/content-1872873-arizona-announcesnew-statewide-heat-officer-plans-relief-afterrecord-deaths-2023

NBC News Arizona. (2024, January). Arizona’s first extreme heat preparedness plan is on the way thanks to ASU, state officials. www.12news.com/article/news/local/ arizona/asu-governors-office-to-developarizona-extreme-heat-preparedness-plan/7528da9848-3df6-494b-8f1d-e43056969324

BBC. (2023, September). Arizona’s new solution to cool boiling schools. www.bbc. com/news/av/world-us-canada-66791818

ASU

Zrioka, P. (2024, July) Saving lives from an invisible killer. news.asu.edu/20240729environment-and-sustainability-saving-livesinvisible-killer

ASU News. (2024, July) Hot and bothered: ASU event to discuss heat and health. news.asu. edu/20240715-health-and-medicine-hot-andbothered-asu-event-discuss-heat-and-health

Hansen, A. (2024, April). College of Health Solutions graduate wants to get students up and moving. news.asu.edu/20240426-sun-devilcommunity-college-health-solutions-graduatewants-get-students-and-moving

Bushaw, K. (2024, April). Arizona adapting to heat crisis with initiatives featured in ASU report. news.asu.edu/20240422-environmentand-sustainability-arizona-adapting-heat-crisisinitiatives-featured-asu

Faller, M. B. (2024, April). ASU team’s research leads to new law protecting mobile-home dwellers. news.asu.edu/20240411-environmentand-sustainability-asu-teams-research-leadsnew-law-protecting-mobilehome

Baker, L . (2024, January). The long way home: Insights into Arizona’s homelessness crisis. news. asu.edu/20240117-university-news-long-wayhome-insights-arizonas-homelessness-crisis

Bushaw, K. (2024, January). ASU faculty honored for contributions to extreme heat research. news.asu.edu/20240228-environmentand-sustainability-asu-faculty-honoredcontributions-extreme-heat-research

Leander, S. (2023, October). ASU tapped to support Arizona’s first Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan. news.asu.edu/20231020asu-tapped-support-arizonas-first-extreme-heatpreparedness-plan

Scan to access the latest media and press coverage.

Share. Solve. Discover.

change. Together, we liberate, analyze, visualize and communicate knowledge from vast, diverse data to provide insights for action, laying the foundation for informed solutions.

PhD student Gisel Guzman Echavarria showing a community member how to take surface temperature readings with an infrared thermometer for heat assessments.

Augmented governance: Building resilience for future pandemics

In an era marked by global challenges and societal divisions, the need for effective governance has

never been more important.

The Global Futures Lab likens itself to a “doctor for the world.” This metaphor underscores the importance of understanding the unique characteristics and needs of diverse communities—akin to knowing the patients. By appreciating these differences, Erik Johnston, a leading Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (KER) scholar since its establishment in 2018, has lead the development of a framework for precision governance, drawing inspiration from the concept of precision medicine. This approach aims to deploy tailored responses at scale, addressing the nuanced needs of various population clusters.

This innovative framework is poised to revolutionize how we prepare for and respond to future pandemics by leveraging advanced computational techniques and a deep understanding of community diversity.

The idea of augmented governance has three major components:

Computational Analysis: Revealing the diverse but significant clusters of similar people that exist within a larger population (see: Lampe, Johnston, & Resnick, 2007).

AI Tools: Creating tailored strategies to improve both global and personal outcomes through localized customization.

Customized Messaging

: Recognizing that different clusters perceive problems differently, are motivated by different values, and will respond to different messaging and messengers. This involves using elements of recommender systems similar in design to Netflix and Amazon to customize risk messaging.

This innovative approach has already borne fruit. A multidisciplinary research team, including multiple KER Fellows, secured a National Science Foundation grant to develop strategies for future pandemic preparedness. Their work revealed a critical blind spot: the assumption of population homogeneity. This assumption, often leading to “fabricating the people,” can result in conflicting and counterproductive behaviors when uniform messages are delivered to diverse audiences.

By addressing this blind spot, the research aims to innovate governance approaches, fostering resilience for future pandemics and other societal challenges. The goal is to ethically communicate findings from academics, public health agencies, and trusted advisors to diverse publics, facilitating a coordinated and collective response without resorting to manipulation or misinformation.

Through augmented governance, Erik Johnston and the KER are not only challenging conventional wisdom but are also providing communities with the tools to navigate the complexities of reality. This research exemplifies how embracing diversity and leveraging data can turn challenges into opportunities, ultimately building a more resilient society. ■

Read more at asupipp.org

Left to right: Erik Johnston, Jieshu Wang, Maryam Shafiee Shakib, Margaret Hinrichs, Patricia Solís and Michael Simeone

New vulnerability metrics offer Arizona-specific insights

Overall Vulnerability

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When it comes to understanding the risks that Arizona communities face, data is everything. For Tim Lant, a KER Enterprise Scholar and the lead author on the Arizona Social Vulnerability Index (AZSVI), that data has the power to change how we prepare for and respond to the unique challenges in the state.

The AZSVI is a critical tool developed as part of the Arizona Health Improvement Plan, designed to tailor the national Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) to Arizona’s specific needs. The original SVI, created by the CDC, uses data to identify communities that might struggle most during disasters based on factors like poverty, lack of access to transportation, and crowded housing. But Arizona’s landscape is different, and so are its vulnerabilities.

Enter Lant, whose expansive disciplinary expertise ranges across actuary science, math, public health, and data sciences. His leadership has been central to modifying the SVI, transforming it into a tool that better reflects Arizona’s realities.

By introducing seven new metrics, like heat vulnerability, water access, and rent burden, Lant assembled a highly interdisciplinary team and structured the effort to ensure that the AZSVI accounts for the environmental and socioeconomic conditions that uniquely affect Arizonans. These additions are crucial in a state where extreme heat and water scarcity are everyday concerns.

The impact of these new metrics on the AZSVI is already being felt. By offering a clearer picture of where Arizona’s vulnerabilities lie, the index helps state agencies, policymakers, and community organizations make informed decisions about how to allocate attention and resources that can better protect the most at-risk populations in the way that is unique to the state. ■

Lant, Tim, Patricia Solís, Kerri Rittschof, Michael Simeone, Patrick Wightman, Anna Gaylord, Talia Hernandez, Brajesh Karna, Krisha Vijay Gala, Mason Mathews, Anna Hartman, Maame Amoa-Asare, Abdulrahman Alsanad, Susan Coates, Bryna Koch, Praveenaa Kulandhaivel, Jennifer Vanos, and Joseph Karanja. 2024. Arizona Social Vulnerability Index (AZSVI). Produced by Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP) Data Advisory Committee, Arizona State University, Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) Geographical Information System (GIS), and the ADHS Office of Health Equity. Technical Documentation available from the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience KEEP Solutions Series. Tempe: Arizona State University. Data Products available fromwww.azdhs.gov/ director/health-equity/index.php#azsvi

Figure 2: Illustration of the AZSVI with the addition of an Arizona-specific theme. The AZSVI follows the same conventions as the CDC SVI with additional metrics.

Tree equity project : Addressing Arizona’s tree mortality crisis

Everyone acknowledges that the Summer of 2023 was exceptionally hot – and even our trees felt the heat.

Across neighborhoods in the Valley, an alarming number of dead trees became a common sight. Trees are crucial for cooling neighborhoods and mitigating the urban heat island effect, so these losses significantly reduce our community’s resilience.

In Spring 2024, KER Director Libby Wentz partnered with Professor Monica Gaughan to tackle this issue.

Their initiative engaged students in the Public Affairs Senior Capstone course to answer a pressing question: how many trees died in residential neighborhoods?

The students developed an illustrated photo guide of trees common to Phoenix, assisting residents in identifying and assessing the health of trees on their properties.

The next steps for the Tree Equity Project 2024 are to build on this foundational work and create a comprehensive inventory of tree mortality. This inventory will be meticulously detailed, connecting

Gaughan Professor, School of Public Affairs

tree deaths to factors such as species, age, watering practices, and other critical variables. By understanding these factors, the project aims to develop strategies that will help us use trees more effectively to cool our neighborhoods and enhance urban resilience.

The Tree Equity Project 2024 not only addresses the immediate aftermath of an exceptionally hot summer but also lays the groundwork for a future where Phoenix can better withstand the challenges of urban heat. Through community engagement and scientific inquiry, this initiative is poised to make a significant impact on the sustainability and livability of our city. ■

Monica

Download the illustrated photo guide of trees common to Phoenix flip book.

Strengthening disaster response through volunteer networks

In the complex and often chaotic world of disaster response, collaboration and resource exchange are paramount. This is particularly true for Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, which play a critical role in providing essential services such as shelter, food, and emotional support during times of crisis.

One key figure in the ongoing effort to enhance these interorganizational networks is former KER Assistant Research Professor Mason Mathews within the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning.

Mathews, now a visiting Assistant Professor at Florida State University, along with his colleagues Jamie Vickery, NOAA and Lori Peek, University of Colorado, Boulder, recently published a groundbreaking study in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction that presents a new framework for assessing and improving the disaster response capacity of VOADs. Their work centers on the importance of routine, predisaster interactions between organizations, which, as they demonstrate, significantly predict the effectiveness of collaboration during actual disaster events.

The study highlights the role of “pillar” organizations—those that consistently engage in resource exchanges across multiple levels within the network. Mathews and his team emphasize that identifying these key players is crucial, as they often serve as the backbone of disaster response efforts, ensuring that resources are distributed

efficiently and effectively. Through their innovative five-step network assessment framework, Mathews and his colleagues provide VOADs with a practical tool to identify strengths and weaknesses in their networks and to optimize their disaster preparedness strategies.

For Mathews, the motivation behind this work is clear. “Effective disaster response is not just about what happens during the crisis,” he explains. “It’s about the relationships and exchanges that are built long before disaster strikes. By strengthening these networks, we can ensure that communities are better supported in their times of greatest need.”

As climate-related disasters increase in frequency and intensity, the work of researchers like Mathews is more important than ever. By focusing on the aspects of pre-disaster planning and interorganizational collaboration, Mathews is helping to build a more resilient future for communities across the country. ■

Mathews, Mason Clay, Jamie Vickery, and Lori Peek. 2024. “Resource exchange patterns between Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs): A multilevel network assessment to improve disaster response capacity.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 108: 104455.

Discover A Roadmap for Repair

Heather McGhee

Celebration for Resilience keynote speaker examines gains that happen when people come together.

Heather McGhee’s specialty is the American economy— and the mystery of why it so often fails the American public. She is a champion of creating bridges across cultural and racial divides that keep Americans struggling to understand each other.

Heather designs and promotes solutions to inequality in America with 20 years of experience as an advocate for change.

Her powerful exploration of the self-destructive bargain of white supremacy and its rising cost to all of us —including white people—from one of today’s most insightful and influential thinkers.

“We can’t be a union that collectively bargains, we can’t have our strength in numbers if Black, White, and Brown workers are not all on the same side,” Heather believes. Everyone is affected in this struggle for bargaining with equality.

It’s a toxic mix of American racism and greed. Is there a way out?

In unlikely places of worship and work, McGhee finds proof of what she calls the ‘Solidarity Dividend.’ These are mutually beneficial gains that come when people come together across race, to accomplish what we can’t do on our own. These advantages can only be unlocked through collective action, but communities that are racially divided can’t muster the power to win the policies they need; wealthy private interests often set the rules.

“This is one of the most important conversations we need to have in this country,” Heather said. “I want an injection of hope because it feels like things are really bad. And the good news is that I found the hope! I found stories of cross-racial coalitions that have won against the odds and some extraordinary human beings.”

McGhee also finds proof of what she calls the Solidarity Dividend: gains that come when people come together across races to the benefit of all involved.

“Why do we accept so much inequality and struggle? It’s not because we don’t have the data. It’s not even because we don’t know what the solutions are. It’s because we have not been able to come together and fight for them, Heather expands. “It’s because there is a disconnect between the people in power, whether it’s in business or government and the people who are impacted by the decisions that they make and that

Celebration for Resilience

race is a big piece of that disconnect—that social distance—and it’s a big piece of our inability to come together and fight for the solutions that we all know we all need and would benefit us all.” Heather presents a roadmap for repair.

Prejudice is not just in the most obvious indignities for people of color. Racism has costs for white people, too. It is the common denominator of our most concerning public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy, and constitutive of the spiritual and moral crises that grip us all.

Heather’s New York Times bestseller “The Sum of Us” is a brilliant analysis of how we arrived here as a nation: divided and self-destructing, materially rich but spiritually starved, and vastly unequal. The heart of the book reveals stories of people yearning to be part of a better America, including white supremacy’s collateral victims: white people themselves.

“My faith in the next generation is profoundly strong and it was restored by being among them,” she said in an interview with The Boston Foundation.

Heather partnered with the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, Color Of Change, to create a companion guide to her podcast, “The Sum of Us,” available on Spotify. It is an invitation to organize and fight injustice in many forms. We can all come together and be part of that change. ■

Heather McGhee is the keynote speaker at the 2024 Celebration for Resilience Gala on September 19 at the Omni Hotel in Tempe.

She is a speaker, advocate, and author of “The Sum of Us: How Racism Hurts Everyone” published by Penguin Random House.

Find out more about her groundbreaking research at HeatherCMcGhee.com and follow her on instagram @HeatherCMcGhee

Valle del Sol Holistic leadership for mind, body and spirit

Each year KER’s Council of Resilience Leaders awards the Resilience Prize to celebrate the accomplishments of a deserving local group or organization for their systemic efforts to improve community resilience and build prosperity in Arizona. This award is meant to inspire continued action and create hope.

Building community resilience is an investment that elevates everyone’s capacity to respond to a changing world. Doing it right takes enormous collaboration, knowledge, and vision and a commitment to creating the next generation of Latino and diverse leaders. These efforts bring social, economic, and environmental benefits for the whole community and last beyond our lifetimes.

For over 50 years, Valle del Sol has been meeting the primary care needs of Arizona’s families, including behavioral health and addiction management. Their care and commitment help people live healthy, empowered, and productive lives. Their leadership commitment ensures this is sustainable.

Left to right: Matt Sotelo, Angelina Bravo, Mike Renaud, Walter Al Vidal, and Jessica Guzman.

Valle del Sol inspires positive change by investing in health and human services, providing families with tools and skills for selfsufficiency, and building the next generation of Latino and diverse leaders through their highly successful Hispanic Leadership Insitute (HLI).

This comprehensive approach strengthens families and helps build healthier communities.

Valle del Sol’s unique integrated health care means they combine primary care and mental health services to treat the whole person: mind, body, and spirit. Experienced primary care providers focus on preventative care so their clients can fight illness before it starts. Their comprehensive care model addresses every client’s health care needs, from pediatrics and women’s health services to disease management.

Valle del Sol is a Certified Community Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC) offering crisis intervention for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) or substance use disorders as well as Recovery Services with their outpatient treatment program. They offer seven clinics throughout the Valley to make it easier for individuals and families to access care.

They offer several behavioral health groups to children and adolescents across the Phoenix metro area. Approximately 71.1% of their clients identified as Hispanic or African-American.

One optimistic client testified, “Valle del Sol offered me a place of hope at a time in my life when I didn’t know where to turn. The counseling sessions changed my life. Before coming to Valle del Sol, I never felt loved in my life,” she said. “Every week that I come, every week gets a little better. My selfesteem gets better, my future looks brighter. We’re all here for one reason and that’s to heal and to learn to live. I’m living again.”

Integral outreach includes Health Services that are school-based bringing treatment to the community, meeting where they are, while focusing on access and equity. Valle del Sol also addresses Physical Health, Behavioral Health, Crisis Intervention, plus Court Diversion programs. Additionally, they created the Arizona WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Clinic focusing on nutrition services, healthy eating, nursing, and referrals to other services.

Building on the theme of “inspiring, engaged, responsible leaders statewide,” Valle del Sol continues to raise the bar for excellence in its six Hispanic leadership development programs. These programs are dedicated to cultivating the skills and potential of emerging leaders from diverse communities across Arizona, including Maricopa County, Yuma County, Pinal County, and Tucson. By recruiting individuals who show promise and a commitment to community service, the Hispanic Leadership Institute is actively building the next generation of Latino leaders.

Valle Del Sol’s mobile treatment units have serviced over 1200 community members through partnerships with school districts and community colleges.

Participating in the 2024 East Valley cohort of the Hispanic Leadership Institute has been one of the most professionally and personally enriching opportunities I’ve ever experienced. I gained valuable insights into my leadership style and formed a close fellowship with like-minded individuals.

Together, our goal is to become more effective, compassionate, and thoughtful leaders.

SUSY BUSTILLOS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE FOR RESILIENCE

Participants in these programs benefit from a comprehensive curriculum that includes leadership training, mentorship opportunities, and networking events.

The focus is not only on professional development but also on fostering a deep sense of social responsibility and community engagement. Valle del Sol’s commitment to excellence ensures that graduates are well-equipped to take on leadership roles in various sectors, from business and government to nonprofit organizations. This ongoing dedication to leadership development underscores Valle del Sol’s mission to inspire positive change and build a brighter future for all of Arizona.

The hard work, commitment, and caring staff of Valle del Sol have brought hope and success to families and homes across the Valley, bolstering community resilience, and working in unison towards a shared vision. ■

View the KER Resilience Prize videos including Valle del Sol on our YouTube Channel.

Resilience Fellows Alumni Cohort Teams

Each year a new cohort of passionate individuals from the University and community apply and are brought together to develop knowledge to strengthen community resilience. This year, instead of bringing in a new group, our alumni came together to form teams and tackle projects larger, more complex projects. We encouraged them to think and act big. Meet our Alumni Cohort Teams (ACT) Fellows!

Abriendo puertas: from storytelling to action

This community-focused project presents the oral histories of long-term Latinx residents in the City of Chandler’s historic barrios alongside recent migrant communities. Our research team used a Querencia methodology, which explores the process in which community creates a sense of place and belonging and uses cultural knowledge as a form of resilience to respond to development/growth.

Project outcomes:

1) Increased archival documentation of the Latinx community in a growing East Valley

2) Deeper understanding of how Latinx residents and communities enact resilience and leadership

3) Mobilizing resilience in current residents through community-engaged research and education

Fellows: Rafael Martinez, PhD (‘21); Tony Pham (‘23); Elizabeth Castillo (‘23); Kristine Clark

Leveraging generative AI for climate resilience: Strategies for heat, water, and air quality management in Arizona

This study aims to understand current practitioners’ interest in and/or usage of generative AI in developing strategies addressing issues related to heat, water, and air quality in Arizona. Results will inform guidelines for government, think tanks, and urban planners, enhancing their ability to mitigate and adapt to climate impacts effectively. Our study contributes to shaping sustainable and resilient communities in the face of environmental challenges.

Fellows: S.R. Aurora (Mai Trinh) (‘23); Josh Loughman (‘20); Michael Simeone (‘20); Jieshu Wang, Elif Kiran

From seed to subsistence

Seed to Subsistence [S2S] is a pilot Urban Farming workforce training program designed to increase trainees food security, and prepare them for employment in the urban farm industry. Training participants include guests from the Ozanam community at SVdP’s Watkins facility, and from the Rispero Shelter. Ozanam is a long-term transitional housing program, whose residents receive wrap-around support and personalized case management toward self-sufficiency.

Fellows: Sandra Price (‘19); Morgan Winburn (‘22); Half Brickley (‘22); George Roberts (not pictured); KaShara Starks

Watershed Game and Curriculum

The Watershed Arizona project will deliver exciting curriculum to Arizona’s High School students that educates about the importance of healthy watersheds and resilient communities. Students will become familiar with sustianable urban planning and community design concepts, environmental policies that support clean and abundant water supplies, and other aspects of the interrelatedness of urban growth and ecosystem services. A board game will also reinforce learning concepts after further testing and refinement.

Fellows: Ian Dowdy (‘21); Tina Drews (‘21); Rafael Martinez (‘21); Leanna Wu

Resilience Fellows Alumni Cohort Teams

Young leaders in action: Resisting climate change

to achieve positive impact

The Youth Leaders Program is a visionary initiative: creating a model community-focused extracurricular program on climate change activism and training next-generation community sustainability leaders to support youth in contributing to improving community resilience in Arizona and beyond. This cross-age program integrates 3 ASU student guide-leaders and 2 high school facilitators who organize 9 leaders from 14-19 years old and 15 young people from 8-13 years old. Their aim is protecting the health and well-being of our communities, educating, and empowering them to create sustainable energy solutions, especially in neighborhoods where families at the lowest income levels are the most vulnerable

Fellows: Teresa Sosa; Michelle Jordan (‘20); Alyssa Cortez; Diego Ruiz Quiroz (not pictured)

Optimizing Social Determinants of Health screening and referrals at Native Health: A process improvement initiative

Measured baseline and departmental process expansion metrics (both without software improvements) for capturing social determinants of health (SDOH) data. Developed an approach comprised of three phases to address identified process issues for future implementation. Phase 1 (near-term) includes harmonizing paper registration forms with NextGen screens and expanding the process to all Native Health departments. Phase 2 (mid-term) involves increasing utilization of Helping Hands interns. Finally, Phase 3 (longterm) includes implementing an online registration tool, iPad procurement, NextGen upgrade assistance, and impact reporting enhancements.

Fellows: Elizabeth Kizer (‘23); Katie Pine (‘20); Nathan Smith (‘19); Krickette Wetherington (‘19); Meredith Jaxon (‘23), not pictured); Brian Robles; Fernanda Lozano; Samantha Whitman

Resilience Fellows

Alumni Cohort Teams

Real-world physiological experiences of cooling center users and cooling efficacy

This project seeks to understand the real-world physiological experiences of cooling center users in Phoenix. We are collecting various human heat-health indicators (e.g., core temperature, hydration) and personal experiences to better understand 1) the initial physiologic state of cooling center users after continued heat exposure, 2) length of time to return to a safe baseline after heat exposure; and 3) how adverse heat-health outcomes are reduced by visiting a cooling center. Efforts will improve guidance for heat relief network operators and respite centers regarding user safety, optimal resources, and duration of center use to reach a safe body temperature.

Fellows: Jennifer Vanos (‘19); David Hondula (‘19), Rev. Katie Sexton (‘23), Michelle Litwin (‘22); Melissa Guardaro, Floris Wardenaar, Jason Siegler, Raul Freire, Nadia Neimanas

Improving regional resilience with community capital dashboards and digital twins

Community Capital Dashboards are interactive maps that mesh environmental, economic, and social indicators to help neighborhoods, communities and regions prioritize sustainable investment and development. Digital twin technology essentially duplicates a building, infrastructure network or place as a 3-D digital model with numerous data sets to aid in solution-oriented impact across a variety of potential use cases such as building decarbonization and heat-mitigation. This project fuses our national community capital dashboard with a pilot Phoenix digital twin to demonstrate a powerful new way to enhance community resilience while generating new findings, recommendations and actions for building community resilience at scale nationwide.

Fellows: Mark Roseland (‘22); Elizabeth Castillo (‘23), Sara Scoville-Weaver (‘23), Anne Reichman (‘22); Shikhar Gupta, Hrushikesh Mulavekar, Emma Kogan

Navigating heat and air pollution exposure tradeoffs under city decarbonization plans in Phoenix

Cities are critical hubs for deploying climate adaptation and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategies and decarbonization while at the same time confronting changing environmental and air pollution exposure of inhabitants. As cities push for decarbonization, such as electrification of vehicles, public transportation, and other carbon-zero emissions such as biking and walking, they must also manage how resident exposures change. Our project leverages innovative modeling and stakeholder involvement to assess heat and air pollution levels and exposures under current and emerging city decarbonization plans, guiding more just transitions that ensure equitable protection from environmental health hazards.

Fellows: Danae Hernandez-Cortes (‘22); Jennifer Vanos (‘19); Carlos Aguiar Hernandez (‘23); Mikhail Chester (‘22); Rob Wolfinbarger

A bottom-up approach to develop a framework for resilience districts in Arizona

In order to build a more resilient Arizona, we have to start at the Neighborhood level. This proposal aims to develop a framework for the development of Resilience Districts, starting with our most “vulnerable” neighborhoods first. Our goal is to co-create a process and a framework for the designation of Resilience Districts that can impact policy and be adopted by cities across the state. We will focus on the intersections of environmental justice, social justice and economic justice and will center cultural identity, wealth building and anti-displacement strategies as the driving force of a Resilience District.

Fellows: Augie Gastelum (‘21); Jennifer Gastelum (‘23); Ryan Winkle (‘22); Melissa Guardaro

Building resilience in homeless shelters

We are conducting surveys of adults in emergency congregate homeless shelter settings to better understand the factors that influence sleep quality in order to modify the sleepscape and provide unhoused adults the rest they need to build the resilience necessary for the hard work of navigating out of homelessness.

Fellows: Heather Ross (‘22); Richard Southee (‘23); Diana Bowman (‘21); Philip Scharf; Natalie Florence

Share. Solve. Discover.

We support the development of transformative solutions that enhance community resilience at a systems level. By designing for resilience dividends, we can reap additional benefits in social cohesion, economic prosperity and environmental security.

Scan to learn more about our Resilience Prize 2024 recipient Valle Del Sol and their efforts to make healthcare more equitable and accessible with their mobile treatment units.

New law protects mobile-home residents from extreme heat

In a significant move, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed HB 2146 into law in April 2024, ensuring mobile-home residents’ rights to install essential cooling measures. This law, which passed through the Arizona Legislature unanimously, results from six years of socially embedded research by KER, addressing the issue of disproportionate extreme heat vulnerability among mobile-home residents.

Mobile homes makeup only 5% of housing in Maricopa County but typically represent 3040% of indoor heat-related deaths annually. KER’s research into statistics provided by MPHD (?) found that mobile-home residents who died from heat often lacked air conditioning or simply stopped using it due to the high cost of electricity.

These findings were crucial in shaping HB 2146, which prevents landlords from denying tenants the right to install air conditioning or other cooling measures. Signed as an emergency action, the law was immediately enacted on April 2, 2024.

The path to this legislative success began when KER was formed in 2018, funded by a grant from the Virginia G. Piper Trust. KER worked with 80 organizations make up the utility assistance network in Maricopa County, including Wildfire. By mapping utility assistance data with heatassociated death locations, KER identified mobilehome communities as high-risk areas.

“We saw the patterns in the map, then did the math and, sure enough, many people who live in mobile-home parks are more vulnerable to extreme heat,” said Patricia Solís. The research found that mobile-home dwellers were often older, lived alone, and had lower incomes. Some densely packed homes, often situated on asphalt, made the heat worse.

Moreover, mobile-home residents frequently lease the land from park owners, making them ineligible for direct utility assistance. This led KER to partner with the Arizona Association of Manufactured Home Owners (AAMHO), engaging residents in surveys and home thermal testing to understand their heat-related challenges. ASU students living in mobile homes played a key role in gathering data and raising awareness among their neighbors.

One alarming discovery was that indoor temperatures in some older mobile-homes reached 105 degrees during summer. Residents expressed their desperation, with some fearing they wouldn’t survive another summer without intervention.

KER’s efforts led to the creation of a heat mitigation guide for mobile-home communities, distributed by AAMHO. However, the guide revealed another issue: landlords often prohibited cooling installations. “People were saying that their

landlords were stopping them from putting in window air-conditioning units in the front of their houses because they could be seen from the street,” Solís said.

To address this, KER collaborated with Wildfire AZ, a Phoenix-based anti-poverty organization and provider of utility assistance, to transform research into policy. Wildfire and AAMHO crafted the language for HB 2146, co-sponsored by Representatives David Cook (R) and Matt Gress (R). The bill passed unanimously through both the House and Senate.

While the new law marks a significant step forward, KER acknowledges ongoing challenges. Many indoor heat-associated deaths occur among residents with air conditioning who refrain from using it due to cost concerns.

KER continues to provide resources, including a guide for mobile-home residents and park owners on preparing for power outages during extreme heat.

The success of HB 2146 shows the impact of community-driven research and collaboration. As we move forward, the partnership between KER, AAMHO, and other stakeholders remains crucial in safeguarding the lives of vulnerable residents and addressing the broader issue of extreme heat resilience. ■

Former AAMHO President Pat Schoneck testifies before the Arizona State House of Commerce Committee as KER Executive Director Patricia Solís waits to be called as an expert witness. Scan to watch the full proceedings.

Dashboard sheds light on eviction and foreclosure crisis

In a collaborative effort to tackle growing housing instability issues, KER, New America, and ASU’s Geospatial Research and Solutions (GRS) have unveiled a comprehensive Eviction and Foreclosure Dashboard. This innovative tool provides a detailed map of eviction and foreclosure data across Arizona, guides interventions and informs policy decisions at a crucial time.

KER has created eviction and foreclosure data tools before, but this iteration with New America marks the first time all of Arizona is included in the data, not just Maricopa County.

With the expansion, there were significant hurdles to learning the different protocols and

processes across the state. The development team, comprised of Sandeep Sabu, Yueling Li, and Shea Lemar worked with Arizona’s courts to obtain the data surrounding the eviction and foreclosure realm, with the goal of providing transparent and open

access to data. It has been designed to be used by many different stakeholders, including

“The process to get this data into a usable format was tremendous. Despite eviction and foreclosure data being theoretically available through county courts, it’s often incredibly difficult to access and manage.” explained Shea Lemar, Director of GRS. “The courts were extremely transparent and supportive in securing, sharing and explaining this data.”

The visual tool integrates data from court records and the U.S. Census Bureau to highlight trends and geospatial insights, revealing the areas and populations most at risk. The platform’s ability to map these data points at the census tract level provides unprecedented granularity, making it easier for local governments, legal aid organizations, and non-governmental organizations to precisely target their efforts.

For instance, the dashboard indicates that more than 90% of evictions in Arizona are due to non-payment of rent, a statistic that underscores the economic pressures facing many Arizonans. The tool also reveals that eviction judgments—which often include repayment of rent, late fees, and legal costs—can worsen tenants’ financial strains, potentially damaging their credit and making future

“The data you’re supplying us with has such direct connections to outreach and to offering resources to those who might not be aware.”

The eviction process in Arizona is notably rapid, with tenants potentially facing lockout by a constable within a month of rent non-payment. This swift timeline highlights the critical need for timely resources and interventions to prevent evictions before they escalate to legal proceedings.

These tools allow city leaders to conduct spatial analysis much more efficiently. Sarah Launius, Tuscon’s Program Director for Community Safety, Health and Wellness, shared that the ability to identify neighborhoods with high eviction rates led to eviction prevention resource fairs in certain neighborhoods across the city with high eviction rates, and allowed for approaches that matched resources with unique community needs.

As Arizona continues to grapple with its eviction crisis, this new dashboard will be a helpful tool for a range of researchers and disciplines and a potential model for other states seeking to mitigate housing instability through informed action and community-focused solutions. ■

Scan the QR code to explore the Evictions and Foreclosures dashboard.

Left to right: Sandeep Sabu, Yueling Li, and Shea Lemar

TEMPE COUNCILMEMBER

Transforming vacant lots into community assets

A vision for resilient urban landscapes

In the face of rising temperatures and increasing social inequity, Arizona is in dire need of innovative solutions to transform our urban landscapes into green, sustainable, and equitable spaces.

The Phoenix Metro area, ranking third in the nation for vacant land, presents a unique challenge and opportunity. Vacant lots, often associated with socio-economic blight and environmental degradation, are disproportionately found in marginalized communities. Yet, these spaces hold the potential to become vital assets in combating extreme heat and fostering social equity.

KER aims to engage stakeholders and equip scientists and decision-makers with highquality, relevant knowledge capable of guiding responses to environmental concerns through observation, modeling, and resilience solutions. This comprehensive approach seeks to address the root causes of urban heat and social inequity by optimizing the use of vacant land.

Vacant lots in urban areas, typically covered in concrete, gravel, or dirt, exacerbate local temperature increases and contribute to poor air quality. These lots, which fail to generate productive, taxable activity, often signify economic stagnation and social blight. However, their strategic development offers a pathway to mitigate extreme heat and enhance social equity.

The Study in Mesa, Arizona

KER is currently engaged in a major exploratory study that focuses on the City of Mesa, Arizona. By identifying and analyzing the spatial correlation between vacant lots, extreme heat, and social equity, KER aims to propose and model scenarios for future development.

This study, a collaboration between Patricia Solís, Saeideh Sobhaninia (pictured left), and Ebenezer Boateng (pictured center), seeks to design a model to transform vacant parcels into beneficial land covers. These models will serve as a guide for local decision-makers to reduce local temperature profiles and combat extreme heat effects.

“My research links community resilience and environmental justice to sustainable development and placemaking,” said Sobhaninia, a Postdoctoral Scholar at KER.

Sobhaninia has conducted various studies to understand the effects of the built environment on communities and explored ways to empower those facing environmental disruptions and climate change consequences.

Ebenezer Nana Kwaku “Boat” Boateng, another Postdoctoral Scholar at KER, specializes in geography, regional planning, and public health utilizing geospatial techniques. Together, they bring a wealth of expertise to the project, ensuring a comprehensive and data-driven approach.

“I’m specifically interested in how this study projects the relevance of geospatial techniques in decision-making for building heat resilient cities. I’m using my knowledge and skills for data curation and analyses.”

The HeatMappers Initiative

In Summer 2024, the first phase of the project was completed. Researchers identified vacant lots and analyzed their relationship with extreme heat and social equity. To gather field data, KER recruited HeatMappers—students participating in the Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory (SW-IFL) project.

These students, including Reese Gould and Jacob Heid, mapped vacant lots in Mesa using OpenStreetMap, a free and open-source free wiki world map, and collected data on ownership and land use.

Creating a “Roadmap for Success”

The next phase involves analyzing the spatial distribution of vacant lots and their correlation with extreme heat and social equity. “Exploring the spatial distribution of extreme heat and social equity at the scale of the vacant lot significantly informs the land cover type, and scenarios to propose for heat resilience in Mesa,” explained Boateng.

The team will then make recommendations for each parcel. “Can we change them to housing, or transform them into permanent green infrastructure or temporary green infrastructure like community gardens?” asks Sobhaninia. The goal is to propose realistic, impactful solutions that consider land cover material, ownership, and potential uses.

The recommendations will address the immediate needs for cooling while also considering long-term development. For example, if a vacant lot is privately owned or located on industrial land, it may not be developed for a long time. In such cases, temporary green infrastructure like community gardens can provide interim benefits. Sobhaninia emphasizes the importance of convincing private owners via incentives provided by local municipalities to participate in creating public areas.

“We’re working at parcel levels and finding our way to the city scale,” she said. “We want to understand the land, be aware of restrictions, and propose feasible solutions. Our goal is to have an impact on policies and policymakers in the future. We’re trying to be realistic and justify our recommendations.”

By transforming vacant lots into valuable community assets, KER and SW-IFL are paving the way for more resilient, cooler, sustainable, green, and equitable urban landscapes. ■

Read more at sw-ifl.asu.edu

HeatMappers and the Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory

This Summer, eight passionate undergrads traded their textbooks for field gear, joining the HeatMappers program to tackle real-world climate challenges and drive meaningful change on site.

HeatMappers, a KER-coordinated cohort program, was deployed to work with the Resilient Solutions Teams at the Southwest Urban Corridor Integrative Field Laboratory (SW-IFL) to collect valuable data in the field, immersing students in hands-on research.

Tucson Team: Exploring home thermal security

The HeatMappers Tucson Team collaborated with the UA Resilient Solutions Team to delve into the Home Thermal Security landscape within the Oracle Road test bed environment.

To foster diversity and inclusion, applications to join the cohort were solicited broadly across the participating SW-IFL universities, minority-serving institutions, and tribal colleges.

The selected students were trained and oriented, then placed at one of the three participating SW-IFL universities: Arizona State University (ASU), Northern Arizona University (NAU), and the University of Arizona (UA) to gain handson experience over a six-week residential period, allowing them to contribute directly to observational campaigns, ground-truthing, data validation, and co-producing solutions.

Overseen by Mark Kear, Assistant Professor at UA, and graduate student Elise Otto, the team comprised Isabel Gonzalez (Anthropology, ASU), Jessica Guerrero (Environmental Studies and Sustainability, Estrella Mountain Community College), and Justinian Tassinari (Chemical Engineering and Urban Planning, ASU), the team conducted field surveys and interviews with approximately 40 residents in mobile home parks and public housing, assessing their experiences with heat and household thermal comfort. Using HOBO MX CO2 loggers, they collected data on carbon dioxide, temperature, and relative humidity in indoor environments.

Preliminary data visualizations revealed significant variations in household temperature management, providing valuable insights for future infrastructure improvements in Tucson. The students gained invaluable experience in community engagement and environmental data analysis.

Flagstaff-Phoenix Team: Tracking air quality and traffic emissions

In Flagstaff, the HeatMappers Team worked with NAU’s modeling team under the supervision of Kevin Gurney and postdoctoral researcher Anna Kato. The team included Bianca Arreola (Geography with a focus on Meteorology & Climatology, ASU), Roberto Madrigal (Biological Sciences, Estrella Mountain Community College), and Jocelyn Flores (Applied Sciences, Estrella Community College).

Using a NAU-developed app, the team collected traffic data across Maricopa County and Flagstaff, focusing on vehicle counts and emissions. They also gathered plant samples of Stinknet and Cheatgrass, which contain air quality indicators.

Their efforts enhanced data density and accuracy in SWIFL urban spaces, contributing to robust modeling and improved environmental assessments. The team excelled in fieldwork, teamwork, and problem-solving, driving numerous miles to support their research.

Mesa-Tempe Team: Assessing urban heat and land use

The HeatMappers Mesa Team focused on gathering essential data to assess the impacts of urban heat and air quality resulting from potential land use changes in Mesa’s many vacant lots.

The study, led by Patricia Solís, involved postdoctoral scholars Saeidah Sobhaninia and Ebenezer Boateng from ASU, with guidance from ASU researchers Ariane Middel and Enrique Vivoni.

HeatMappers student participants Reese Gould and Jacob Heid (Urban Planning, ASU) began by mapping vacant lots visible in satellite imagery onto OpenStreetMap. They flagged these lots using parcel attributes across 431 discrete tagging tasks, validating the locations of 1,707 vacant lots.

Pictured opposite page, clockwise from top left: Jessica Guerrero, Bianca Arreola, Isabel Gonzalez, Ebenezer Boateng, Roberto Madrigal, Jocelyn Flores, Sawyer Routt, Reese Gould, Justin Tassinari, Elise Otto, Jacob Heid.

Partnership_ highlight Solve

This served as a starting point for identifying how land use changes could improve the urban environment.

The team groundtruthed 66 lots to assess their actual status based on visible imagery, finding that slightly over 70% were completely vacant. Using this data, the team analyzed the locations in terms of ownership, parcel data, zoning designations, and land cover, creating a comprehensive GIS-based picture of vacancy in Mesa.

They also overlaid these locations with heat risk assessments from the Census CRE for Heat and the Body Heat Storage methodology developed by UA researchers. Reese and Jacob reflected on their experience, expressing satisfaction in contributing to a long-term research project that advanced both data collection and analysis for the ASU team.

A successful summer of research and learning

The eight HeatMappers students significantly advanced SW-IFL research while gaining practical research engagement experience. The HeatMappers initiative exemplifies the power of integrating education with realworld research, fostering a new generation of scientists equipped to tackle environmental challenges through community-focused, datadriven solutions.

HeatMappers is a program coordinated by KER with logistical support, orientation, and communications. Each participating student received a modest stipend, travel, and lodging support from SW-IFL funding. ■

The Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory (SW-IFL) seeks to engage stakeholders and provide scientists and decision makers with high-quality, relevant knowledge capable of spurring and guiding responses to environmental concerns. The SW-IFL is a partnership involving the three public universities in Arizona, two national laboratories, and industry.

Where to stay cool: Mapping the Cooling Centers

Heat is the deadliest natural disaster. More people die of heat exposure every year than every other natural disaster combined. Many of us enjoy the benefits of air conditioning to keep us safe through the Arizona summer, but without it, we might find ourselves in a dangerous situation quickly.

As shocking as it sounds, there are vulnerable populations living without working air conditioning, including the elderly and those living in mobile home parks, tribal nations, and reduced circumstances.

One intervention is cooling centers, an indoor airconditioned space where people can get respite from the heat. While Maricopa County, Arizona has a robust cooling center network, the rest of the state’s cooling centers are in various stages of development.

Oscar Lopez (pictured above), a postdoctoral research scholar at KER, is researching how to target and identify placement of more cooling centers statewide. Providing a cooling center encompasses more than empty space as there are a wide variety of moving parts, including hours of operation, staffing, sanitation, supervision and wrap around services.

“My research has been geared toward, ‘Where do we put the cooling center?’ I’m a geographer and I come from geography background,” Lopez said. “I do a lot with stakeholders and infrastructure planning. I’ve also joined this project for the cooling centers because my background was in facility location via stakeholder engagements.”

Using data to identify cooling center locations is primary. “There’s a very mathematical way to do a facility location. You take a map, you have a bunch of data about where people are, and you map those factors. We also have candidate

Solutions highlight_

sites for facilities, places where you could put a cooling center,” Lopez said. “We want to see how many people are within a three mile radius and then build a network of candidate sites. If you’re trying to maximize the number of people that are within three miles of any cooling center, this is the network that you need to build.”

Cooling centers are currently available statewide, Lopez said, but there aren’t enough.

“There’s over 100 of them in the network right now. But we’re looking at the state level. That’s a result of the Governor’s executive order from last summer. But last summer there was the Maricopa heat relief network, and the faith network, which is a network of churches, and the Salvation Army and those three groups, had assembled a network of cooling centers that was in Maricopa, Tucson, Yuma, and the Salvation Army had some cooling centers that were in the northern half of the state as well. For the most part it was centered around those three metropolitan areas.” Presently the State has started working out rolling out cool containers which are shipping container units which can be moved around, and serve as temporary facilities for cooling.

Lopez pointed out, “I consider this cooling center facility location exercise to be more of a first step in developing where to put its cooling centers.”

Additonal agencies, cities and counties involved with the Heat Relief Network include:

Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Arizona Department of Economic Security, Arizona Department of Health Services, The Salvation Army, Arizona Faith Network, Maricopa Association of Government, Arizona Residential Utility Consumer Office, Arizona Statewide Independent Living Council, Honor Health, Indian Health Services, Maricopa County, Gila County, Mohave County, Pima County, the Navajo and Tonto Nations, Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health (NOAH), Cities of Phoenix, Surprise, Tempe, and Yuma. ■

Scan to access a Map of Cooling Centers within Arizona from Arizona Department of Health Services.

New resilient agriculture: Indoor, vertical farming

Arizona State University (ASU), Salt River Project (SRP), and the City of Phoenix have partnered to develop an innovative indoor farming initiative in Phoenix with Homer Farms.

This collaboration aims to create a container farm, utilizing repurposed shipping containers to cultivate crops in a controlled indoor environment. The container farm will employ advanced hydroponic systems, enabling efficient water use, which is crucial for an arid region like Phoenix. SRP’s involvement brings in expertise in sustainable energy, likely incorporating renewable energy sources to power the farm.

This initiative aligns with urban agriculture goals, promoting local food production and reducing the need for long-distance transportation of produce. By growing food locally, the project aims to provide fresh, healthy produce to the community, enhancing food security in Phoenix. ASU’s participation ensures that the container farm will serve as a living lab for students and researchers, offering hands-on learning experiences in sustainable agriculture, advanced farming technologies, and resource management.

The City of Phoenix’s involvement ensures that the project is integrated into the community,

providing opportunities for local engagement, education, and potentially job creation. It supports economic development by fostering local food systems and innovation in agriculture. By producing food locally, the project aims to improve food accessibility and reduce dependency on external food sources. Utilizing efficient water and energy use, the container farm sets a model for sustainable agriculture in urban settings.

The partnership will drive innovation in indoor farming technologies and offer educational opportunities for students and the community. By addressing local food production and sustainability, the project contributes to the resilience of the Phoenix community. This collaboration between ASU, SRP, and the City of Phoenix represents a forward-thinking approach to urban agriculture, leveraging technology, sustainability, and community engagement to create a resilient and self-sufficient food system. ■

Read more at homerfarms.com

Maricopa County housing stock analysis

There is a general consensus within political and agency circles that Maricopa County has a housing shortage. But a quick review of 2020 census data demonstrates that Maricopa County has significantly more housing units than it has resident households. Where is the mismatch? Are housing units not in the desired locations? Are housing units being used for something other than housing, such as short term vacation rentals?

To answer these questions and more, KER has been working to understand the housing stock within Maricopa County, breaking the current property profile down by municipality and housing and occupancy type.

The KER housing team

The KER housing team has been collaborating with both MAG and the Maricopa County Assessors Office to obtain data and understand nomenclature and priorities. To date, the housing team

Joffa Applegate Biosocial Complexity Initiative KER Enterprise Scholar

Eve Castille ASU School of Sustainability

Brajesh Karna Knowledge Exchange for Resilience

Sandeep Sabu ASU School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning

Solutions highlights_

has been successful in deriving parcellevel overall land usage land usage and residential housing type breakdowns using the Assessor’s Office data. Combined with manual extractions from AriBnb and VRBO, the team have also identified the number of units per jurisdiction that are used as vacation rentals, with Scottsdale showing a significant percentage of single family housing not available for residential use.

The final piece of the housing stock puzzle is to finish identifying the number of units available for about ten thousand apartments and multi-plex properties, which occupy single parcels in the assessors data but represent numerous housing units each. This work is being augmented by a large language model which is being trained to pull number of unit information off the Internet.

The housing team has also been successfully in obtaining and sorting historical assessors data to be able to track the evolution of the housing stock in Maricopa County over time. Preliminary results show that while the number of single family housing has indeed rapidly increased over the last decade, these houses are not only bigger, but the lot sizes are smaller. Futhermore, more of that single family residential stock is now used as rental accommodation, both long and short term. Future work will include analyzing the ownership of this housing stock to determine if there are any institutional players affecting the Maricopa County housing

“We hope that this work will be informative in the ongoing housing debate within Maricopa County, in offering comprehensive data on how available units are being used,” said Team Lead and Assistant Research Professor Joffa Applegate. “This could provide an opening for future policy work that focuses less on producing more housing and more on the allocation of existing housing.” ■

HeatReadyTM Schools

Schools, often regarded as community hubs, play a pivotal role in the well-being of children, teachers and parents alike. Recognizing the profound impact of heat conditions on health and education, HeatReadyTM Schools embarked on a mission to formalize school heat preparedness, ensuring the safety of students in scorching temperatures and at the same time, offering an engaging educational experience.

The culmination of this effort is a set of thirty recommendations that provide adaptable solutions for schools in diverse contexts and climates.

The impact extends to over 30 schools and community centers, a number that continues to grow.

HeatReady TM Schools Project Coordinator Mary Muñoz Encinas (pictured center at Desert Garden Montessori in Phoenix) says they want this to become the standard for schools.

“In Arizona, we cannot escape the heat. So I would love to see this implemented Valley-wide, and then maybe adjusted to go state by state so that everyone who is vulnerable to heat risk can be protected.”

KER postdoctoral researcher Kylie Wilson elaborated further, “One example of how the HeatReady TM Schools Initiative can make an impact is recess, which is typically held outdoors. Recess is a crucial opportunity to foster students’ healthy growth and development. But with Arizona’s extreme heat, and often poor air quality, it becomes increasingly clear we need effective and feasible strategies to support schools in offering recess as intended.”

Beyond recommendations, the initiative has cultivated a tree growth rubric, bilingual training programs, a K-12 summer preparedness course, and teacher training materials.

As part of this effort, a scorecard was created, designed to help school administrators gauge their school’s heat preparedness, and find areas for improvement. As the program grows, the team hopes to create an official HeatReady TM certification that schools can earn.

This approach aligns with the broader HeatReady TM Neighborhoods initiative, where schools emerge as critical players in the collective effort to build resilience and education against extreme heat. ■

Scan to learn more about HeatReady™ Schools research. Our work with schools helps increase education and awareness around heatrelated challenges, while also building heat resilience in the surrounding communities.

The AAG serves as a unifying force for the global geographic community. They provide valuable resources and facilitate professonal relationships for students, educators, practitioners and partners. Scan to learn more.

Media Achievement Award presented by American Association of Geographers

In a remarkable recognition of their contributions to the field of geographical research, several faculty and researchers from across multiple departments at Arizona State University have been awarded the 2024 Media Achievement Award from the American Association of Geographers.

This prestigious accolade celebrates the exceptional efforts of (left to right) David Hondula, Melissa Guardaro, Jennifer Vanos, Ariane Middel and Patricia Solís, who have dedicated their expertise to addressing the critical challenges of extreme heat and making it widely shared with Arizona media.

The awardees, all affiliated with KER, have garnered widespread acclaim for their groundbreaking work.

Utilizing a diverse array of geographical methods and approaches, they have conducted cutting-edge research on the pressing issue of extreme heat. Their ability to translate this research into actionable knowledge has significantly impacted policy and community spheres.

The team’s work has been prominently featured in numerous high-profile outlets, including “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt,” the “Today” show, “Good Morning America,” The Washington Post, The New York Times, National Geographic, Rolling Stone Magazine, Slate, The Guardian, The Weather Channel, National Public Radio, Scientific American,

High Country News, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, Wired, The New Yorker, and “CBS News Sunday Morning.” This extensive media coverage underscores the broad recognition of the team’s contributions to raising awareness about extreme heat challenges.

Their sustained efforts in science communication have not only educated the public but have also provided concrete, actionable steps to mitigate the impact of extreme heat.

As a result, their work has had a transformative effect on public policy in Arizona, highlighting the importance of geographical research in addressing critical environmental issues.

Learn more at aag.org

The College Student Leader 2022-2023

Natalia da Silveira Arruda was recognized as one of ten students as The College Student Leader for the 2022-2023 academic year on October 27, 2023. This honor was bestowed upon her for her exemplary leadership within YouthMappers at ASU.

Learn more at thecollege.asu.edu/alumni/leaders

ASU President’s Award for Global Engagement

On December 7, 2023, Patricia Solís and the YouthMappers at ASU were awarded the prestigious ASU President’s Award for Global Engagement. This accolade acknowledges their successful solutions in innovation, social embeddedness, sustainability, and transdisciplinary collaboration.

Read more at cfo.asu.edu/presidents-awards

ASU School of Sustainability Community Responsibility and Success Award

On April 25, 2024, Melissa Guardaro was honored with the ASU School of Sustainability Community Responsibility and Success Award.

2024 Course Development Prize in Architecture, Climate Change, and Society: Honorable Mention

Melissa Guardaro received an honorable mention for her innovative project, Collective Comfort II, in the 2024 Course Development Prize in Architecture, Climate Change, and Society.

Scan to learn more about Collective Comfort II

Institute for Social Science Research Poster Contest Fall 2023- Second Place

In November 2023, Kylie Wilson and Allison Poulos secured second place in the ISSR Poster Contest at Arizona State University. Their poster, titled Exploring the Impact of Promotion, Programming, and Renovations on Public School Campus Usage for Physical Activity, was presented at the Institute for Social Science Research Graduate Student Poster Competition in Tempe, AZ. Their research, which was refereed and presented, is recognized as a significant contribution to the field.

Council of Resilience Leaders

The Council of Resilience Leaders, made up of influential individuals from across the county representing private, nonprofit and public sectors, serve as knowledgeable ambassadors for resilience work, raising the profile of our mutual interests in community resilience, and providing recommendations on future opportunities, resources and potential partners.

CRL’s activities revolve around a framework encompassing three aims:

AWARE

The council focuses on spreading awareness of KER’s efforts, while being attentive to and sharing areas of resilience and opportunities within the community.

ACTION

CRL members actively share knowledge and data, striving to create connections between KER and the Arizona community.

AWARD

The council nominated, selected, and awarded the annual Resilience Prize to bestow at the Celebration of Resilience, recognizing and celebrating significant contributions to resilience from organizations impacting Arizonans.

One of the greatest impacts of having such a fantastic group of leaders serving to build and promote community resilience, is what happens when we convene. By sharing and discovering with each other, the conversations of the council spark exciting connections and opportunities for action.

VICE PROVOST LIBBY WENTZ DIRECTOR, KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE FOR

RESILIENCE

Amy St. Peter Deputy Executive Director, Maricopa Association of Governments Dana Marie Kennedy State Director, American Association of Retired Persons Arizona

Annie Donovan CEO, Raza Development Fund

David Brown CEO, Valley Leadership

David Rousseau President, Salt River Project (SRP)

Jowan Thornton Bureau Chief, Arizona Department of Economic Security

Maren Mahoney Director, Office of Resiliency, Office of Governor Katie Hobbs

Neil Giuliano President and CEO Greater Phoenix Leadership

Cynthia Zwick Cabinet Executive Officer and Executive Deputy Director of the Residential Utility Consumer Office with the State of Arizona

David Lujan Cabinet Executive Officer of the Arizona Department of Child Safety

Greg Burton Executive Editor, The Arizona Republic

Jeff Guldner CEO, Pinnacle West Corporation (APS)

Kate Gallego Mayor, City of Phoenix

Maria Dadgar Executive Director, InterTribal Council of Arizona

Ryan Winkle Executive Director, Arizona Fair Housing Center

Libby Wentz Director, Knowledge Exchange for Resilience

Monica Villalobos President and CEO, AZ Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Teniqua Broughton Executive Director, State of Black Arizona

Associate Directors and Resilience Scholars

A cadre of ASU faculty and researchers to lend their expertise to our design and to more intricately engage with the University as a whole, to exchange knowledge about and for resilience.

Enterprise Scholars

Our Enterprise Scholars are supporting the ongoing evolution of KER as we work to institutionalize our impact within ASU. With their expertise, our resilience logic and most effective practices will be integrated design characteristics of the New American University. Named Enterprise Scholars for the three enterprises of ASU, these individuals are providing intellectual leadership for the model of a knowledge exchange contributing to research of public value.

Erik Johnston School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Joffa Applegate Biosocial Complexity Initiative

Tim Lant ASU Knowledge Enterprise

Michael Simeone Biosocial Complexity Initiative, School of Complex Adaptive Systems

Sarah Bassett School of Public Affairs

Impact Scholars

As our Enterprise Scholars do the slow work of institutional transformation, our Impact Scholars are helping us respond quickly to the urgent threat of extreme heat in Arizona.

Diana Bowman Center for Smart Cities and Regions

Melanie Gall Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security

Kerri Rittschof Data Science and Analytics

Jennifer Vanos School of Sustainability

Melissa Guardaro

Assistant Research Professor and Associate Director for Resilience Hubs

Margaret M. Hinrichs

Assistant Research Professor and Associate Director of Decision Science

Community Scholars

Our Community Scholars are contributing their wealth of knowledge from both business and nonprofit sectors to help us refine our methods of collaboration and find new opportunities to foster solutions.

Kristin Borns Borns Solutions AZ

Gail LaGrander Office of Nutrition and Active Living Maricopa County Public Health Department

Teresa Sosa Salud en Balance Community Center

Mason Mathews

Assistant Research Professor and Associate Director for Academic Integration and Alliances

Postdoctoral Research Scholars _

Our Postdocs conduct advanced research, publish findings, write grants, collaborate with faculty, mentor students, develop professional skills, and engage in academic service to advance their academic careers and contribute to their fields.

Serena Sowers Marsh

Oscar Lopez

Saeideh Sobhaninia

Kylie Wilson

Ebenezer N.K. “Boat” Boateng

Our team [ [

Administration

Elizabeth Wentz

Director

Patricia Solís

Executive Director

Susana Bustillos

Assistant Director

Marcia Nation

Evaluator

Jamie Colburn

Research Administrator

Juliette Dixon

Research Administrator

Melissa Guardaro

Assistant Research Professor and Associate Director for Resilience Hubs

Mason Mathews

Assistant Research Professor and Associate Director for Academic Integration and Alliances

Shea Lemar

Director, Geospatial Research & Solutions

Margaret Hinrichs

Associate Director of Decision Science and Assistant Research Professor

Students

Aayushi

Data Research Assistant,

Abdulrahman “Al” Alsanad*

GIS Analyst

Archit Agrawal

Data Research Assistant

Natalia da Silveira Arruda

Graduate Research Assistant

Ebenezer N.K. Boateng

Postdoctoral Research Scholar

Britnie Britton

Graduate Research Assistant and Management Intern

Kevin Bushaw

Communications and Marketing Manager

Isabel Elizalde Office Assistant

Mary Munoz Encinas

Project Coordinator

Brajesh Karna Data Manager

Akshay Reddy Kola Research Assistant

Aayush Kansara

Data Research Assistant

Nikhil Kumar

Research Assistant

Wendy Loera

Assistant to the Directors

Oscar Lopez

Postdoctoral Research Scholar

Hritika Mishra

Research Aide

Saeideh Sobhaninia

Postdoctoral Research Scholar

Amal Shifwath Shaik

Research Assistant

Nishta Shah

Research Assistant

Maryam Shafiee Shakib

Graduate Research Assistant

Katsiaryna “Kate” Varfalameyeva* Research Assistant

Kevin Jatin Vora

Graduate Research Assistant

Kylie Wilson

Postdoctoral Research Scholar

Sponsors and Knowledge Partners

Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust

The ASU Knowledge Exchange for Resilience is supported by Virginia G. Piper

Charitable Trust. Piper Trust supports organizations that enrich health, well-being, and opportunity for the people of Maricopa County, Arizona.

Funding support also received from:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Department of Energy

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Environmental Protection Agency

Federation of American Scientists

Institute for Social Science Research at ASU

Local Initiatives Support Corporation

NASA

National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration

National Science Foundation

New America Foundation

New York Federal Reserve

Raza Development Fund

United States Trade and Development Agency

U.S. Agency for International Development

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Geological Survey

ASU Academic Unit Partners

ADVANCE Barrett, The Honors College

ASU Foundation

ASU Mesa City Center, MIX Center

Biosocial Complexity Initiative

Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security

Center for Health Information and Research

Center for Smart Cities and Regions

College of Integrative Sciences and Arts

College of Health Solutions

Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes

Decision Theater

Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation

Equitable Places Lab

Foundation for A New American University

Geospatial Research and Solutions

Global Futures Laboratory

Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation

Global Sport Institute

Graduate College

Healthy Urban Environments

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

Hugh Downs School of Human Communication

Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering

Knowledge Enterprise

Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions Library

Lightworks

Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College

MeteorStudio

Mirabella

Moonshot Accelerator

Morrison Institute for Public Policy

NEXUS Lab

Office of Applied Innovation

Office of Presidential Initiatives

OKED Broader Impacts Group

Polytechnic School

Project Cities

RCE Greater Phoenix

Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions

Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

School for Complex Adaptive Systems

School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy

School for the Future of Innovation in Society

School of Arts, Media and Engineering

School of Community Resources and Development

School of Complex Adaptive Systems

School of Computing, and Augmented Intelligence

School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning

School of Human Evolution and Social Change

School of Social Work

School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment

School of Sustainability

Smart City Cloud Innovation Center

Southwest Borderlands Initiative

Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory

Spatial Analysis Research Center

Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems

Thunderbird School of Global Management

Unit for Data Science and Analytics

Urban Resilience to Extremes Network

Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family

Studio for Creativity, Place, and Equitable Communities

Sustainable Cities Network

TenAcross 10X

The Graduate College

The Polytechnic School

University City Exchange

Urban Climate Research Center

Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions

W. P. Carey School of Business

YouthMappers

Community partners

American Red Cross APS

Arizona AARP

Arizona Association of Manufactured Home, RV and Park Model Owners

Arizona Department of Child Safety

Arizona Department of Economic Security

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality

Arizona Department of Health Services

Arizona Department of Housing

Arizona Faith Network

Arizona Housing Coalition

Arizona Housing, Inc.

Arizona Office of Attorney General

Arizona Office of Resiliency

Arizona Office of the State Climatologist

Arizona Republic

AZ Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

AZCEND

Black Chamber of Arizona

Borns Solutions AZ

Center for Economic Integrity

Center for the Future of Arizona

Chicanos por la Causa

Children’s Action Alliance

City of Mesa

City of Phoenix

City of Scottsdale

City of Surprise

City of Tempe

City of Tucson

Corporation for Supportive Housing

Crisis Response Network

Downtown Phoenix Inc.

Dress for Success Phoenix

Federal Emergency Management

Agency Resilient Nation Partnership

Feed Phoenix

Fervor Creative

Foundation For Senior Living

Friends of Verde River

Garcia Family Foundation

Global Council for Science and the Environment

Greater Phoenix Economic Council

Greater Phoenix Leadership

Homer Farms

Inter Tribal Council of Arizona

Lehr Innovations, LLC

Local First AZ

Manufactured Housing Communities of Arizona

MapSwipe

Maricopa Association of Governments

Maricopa County Public Health Dept.

Meritage Homes

MesaCAN

Missing Maps

Nation Evaluation Consulting, LLC

National Council on Aging

New America

NOAA/National Weather Service

Northern Arizona University

Office of the Governor of Arizona

Paideia Academies Inc

Patchwork Community Inclusion

Phoenix Rescue Mission

RAIL Community Development Corporation

Raza Development fund

Resident-Owned Communities USA, LLC

Residential Utility Consumer Office

ResilientMe

Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community

Salt River Project

Salud en Balance

Salvation Army

Southwest Gas

St. Vincent de Paul

Swiss Re

The Arizona Republic

The Nature Conservancy

The State of Black Arizona

United States Census Bureau

University of Arizona

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of the Interior

Utility Assistance Coalition Network

Valley Leadership

Valley of the Sun United Way

Vitalyst Health Foundation

Wildfire

3M and Skycool

Scan for the most upto-date list of sponsors and partners.

Cover photo by ChrisFloresFoto