Department of Energy Awards Saint Louis University Nearly $1 Million to Create a Climate Resilience Center

Orhun Aydin, Ph.D., assistant professor in earth and atmospheric science at SLU’s School for Science and Engineering, is the principal investigator on the three-year project, which brings together researchers from across the university working on issues around urban climate and how it impacts human health.

Co-investigators include Sarah Coffin, Ph.D., associate professor in urban planning; Emily Hite, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology and anthropology; Benjamin de Foy, Ph.D., professor of earth and atmospheric science; Liz Hasenmueller, Ph.D., associate professor of earth and atmospheric science; Vasit Sagan, Ph.D., professor of earth and atmospheric science and computer science; Enbal Shacham, Ph.D., professor of behavioral science and health equity; and Jason Knouft, Ph.D., professor of biology.

The project, “Advancing Development and Climate-Resilient Adaptation Practices via Community-Driven Urban Transformation,” will undertake high-resolution modeling of heat islands in St. Louis City and St. Louis County and offer ways to build resilience into existing buildings and future developments.

Heat islands exist when high urban density causes temperatures in cities to rise above the temperatures in the surrounding, less-dense parts of the region. Heat is also one of the driving factors in premature deaths in Missouri.

Aydin said St. Louis’ unique climate resilience challenges and undergoing efforts for sustainability plans make here and now an ideal time to utilize generative AI to inform resilience plans for weather extremes by smart geodesign.

“Heat islands aren’t just about the temperature,” Aydin said. “In St. Louis, with our humidity, 90 degrees can be suffocating. The stress on those experiencing the heat is different.”

The research team will create a network of high-precision weather sensors in St. Louis City and County. The sensors will be built in Aydin’s AI-CHESS (Artificial Intelligence for Coupled Human-Environment System Analysis for Sustainability) Lab at SLU. The sensors will give the team access to real-time weather data in the region, allowing them to follow up with an AI model for high heat exposure based on climate models from the Department of Energy.

“We will be able to investigate the impact of green spaces and sustainable development,” Aydin said. “Increasing green spaces will reduce the impact of heat islands and improve shade equity to lower-income neighborhoods.”

In addition to the climate models, the research team will also evaluate the energy efficiency of homes within the heat islands of St. Louis City and County.

Community partner EnergyCare, a non-profit whose mission is to help low-income, vulnerable people find safety from extreme temperatures, will conduct home audits and provide assistance via better insulation or air conditioning units.

“Those audits are beginning now,” Aydin said. “We still have enough hot weather ahead of us this year to start.”

The audits will help determine how much power is needed to heat and cool homes.

The research team will use the data collected to create a neighborhood dashboard that will be shared with the city and county.

The Center benefits from a research team pulled consisting of a variety of academic departments at SLU. All eight members have research rooted in climate change but are each tackling it through the lens of their own expertise.

The team also brings in strengths from the institutions they represent, in particular, Taylor Geospatial Institute and the WATER Institute at SLU.

Coffin, director of SLU’s urban planning and development program, brings expertise in urban design to aid in future development plans. Hasenmueller and Knouft, both members of SLU’s WATER Institute, will look at how to create more green spaces that can withstand the flooding and drought conditions that the region can face.

Looking at people’s perceptions and experiences with heat will fall to Hite, an anthropologist, while Shacham brings a public health and equity lens to the project.

“We have a wide variety of expertise among the investigators,” Aydin said. “They each make up an important aspect of the project. Our government and community partners will also be an integral part of the final action and implementation of any research findings.”

Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 15,200 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University’s diverse community of scholars is SLU’s service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place.