Marymount team helps in statewide effort to address ‘heat islands’ – Inside NoVA

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Dr. Susan Agolini, an assistant professor of biology at Marymount University, recently led more than 20 community scientists from across Northern Virginia to understand where residents are most at risk during extreme heat waves.

The effort was part of a larger, community-led campaign organized by the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. On July 15, Marymount joined 12 other higher-education institutions in recording air temperatures and humidity of communities throughout Virginia.

The Heat Watch project is a way to measure the heat that exists in a community and is really looking for heat islands urban areas that are significantly hotter than other surrounding areas, Agolini said. Marymount is very interested in interfacing with and supporting the Arlington community, and this is really a perfect project for a community partnership.

Using specially designed thermal sensors, Marymount faculty, staff, students and volunteers from EcoAction Arlington and the Virginia Department of Forestry set out to detect heat conditions throughout Arlington during three times of day: 6 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

I think its really important to volunteer where you can, said Maureen Dour, a learning specialist at Marymount and Heat Watch volunteer. To be part of this study, it was not hard and it was really interesting.

Data collected will be analyzed by project partner CAPA Strategies to create a high-resolution heat map that will better inform increasing risk and exposure to extreme heat. Previous Heat Watch campaigns in Richmond, Norfolk and Roanoke revealed temperature differences as significant as 16 degrees Fahrenheit between the coolest and hottest places.

People who live in the areas of heat islands typically already have a higher risk for different diseases we want to find out if theyre also experiencing additional burdens due to the heat in these areas, Agolini said.

The heat-mapping program was created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and has given rise to more than 10 heat-island-mapping campaigns across the country this summer.

Its great to see volunteers from across Virginia taking action to address extreme heat thats affecting their families and neighbors, said Hunter Jones of NOAA.

Participants in the effort, in addition to Marymount, come from the public Virginia State University and private colleges including Bridgewater College, Emory & Henry College, Hampden-Sydney College, Hollins University, Randolph College, Roanoke College, Shenandoah University, Sweet Briar College, University of Lynchburg, the University of Richmond and Virginia Wesleyan University. They traversed Abingdon, Arlington, Farmville, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, Petersburg, Richmond, Salem, Virginia Beach and Winchester as part of the effort.

Community-science initiatives like this heat-mapping campaign have contributed immensely to our understanding of how environmental stressors are not felt equally across communities here in the commonwealth, said Science Museum of Virginia chief scientist Dr. Jeremy Hoffman.

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Marymount team helps in statewide effort to address 'heat islands' - Inside NoVA