Engaging Secondary Students in Urban Heat Island Research through NASA’s Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) Program

According to the Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM), NASA seeks to attract and develop a talented, diverse workforce (Strategic Objective 4.1) and cultivate interest in STEM amongst underrepresented groups. Out of these interests, the Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) aims to attract the next generation of STEM leaders through hands-on climate-focused research opportunities at the high school, collegiate, and community levels. During 2022-2023, the Urban Heat Island (UHI) CCRI team— which is composed of teachers and graduate, undergraduate, and high school students — developed a series of high school Earth Science lessons on climate change, sustainability, renewable resources, and the urban heat island effect using NASA data and resources. The UHI team also spearheaded five field campaigns – four at Baruch College Campus High School in the Spring of 2023 and one at City Tech College through an NSF-funded internship called INSPIRE (Implementing Novel Solutions for Promoting Cultural Change in Geoscience Research and Education) in the Summer of 2023. During these campaigns, high school students collected air and land surface temperatures along transects through parks and historically redlined neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City using an innovative data collection protocol. These data will support on-going research of the UHI team, helping them refine the relationship between air and land surface temperature and address how temperature has changed in historically redlined communities using handheld infrared cameras, thermal guns, and ambient temperature and humidity measuring sensors. Students were able to learn about the impact of various impervious and natural surfaces on land surface and air surface temperatures. Preliminary analysis of exit surveys and oral interviews from the field campaigns reveal student interest in participating in future geoscience research opportunities and a positive perception of students as scientists. Our project demonstrates the benefits of incorporating data collection opportunities/ field work in science education as a means of promoting the next generation of STEM leaders and professionals.