How can cities better prepare for #extremeheat? IBS Fellow Sara Meerow spoke with #Forbes about how communities can strengthen #heatactionplans through better coordination, evaluation, and long-term planning. @colorado.edu #CIRES #Geography #climatechange #heatplan www.forbes.com/sites/christ...

How To Improve Heat Action Plans

Most cities and regions don’t have formal plans for extreme heat, though they have the power to save lives. Still, these plans are far from perfect.

forbes.com

New article in @forbes.com discussing our recent research on implementation and effectiveness of Heat Action Plans: www.forbes.com/sites/christ...

How To Improve Heat Action Plans

Most cities and regions don’t have formal plans for extreme heat, though they have the power to save lives. Still, these plans are far from perfect.

forbes.com

📣 Upcoming online short course on the resilience of urban social-ecological-technological systems (SETS) 🏙️🌱 🗓️ 19-23 October 2026 📚 Online (2-3 synchronous sessions per day) ⚠️ Apply by 8 September 2026 ℹ️ Learn more and apply: socses.org/short-courses/

Excited to be here!

CIRES@cires.colorado.edu · last mo.

"I focus a lot on how we translate resilience into practice and govern and plan our cities in a changing climate." CIRES is excited to welcome @sarameerow.bsky.social — an expert in extreme heat and urban resilience — to the Council of Fellows! cires.colorado.edu/news/cires-w...

“People who are suffering from heat are often suffering alone. It doesn’t lend itself to the same sort of visible imagery, and also doesn’t always have really visible infrastructure damage.” CIRES Fellow @sarameerow.bsky.social spoke with @coloradonewsline.com coloradonewsline.com/2026/08/17/h...

Heat-related illnesses spike in Colorado as climate change fuels record temperatures | Colorado Newsline

A record number of Coloradans who sought medical treatment for heat-related illnesses this summer amid unprecedented extreme heat.

coloradonewsline.com

How can you assess if a community's #Heat Action #Plan is having impact? We developed the Heat Action Plan Implementation and Evaluation (HAPIE) Tool to do just that. Check it out: preparecenter.org/resource/eva... @saidasobhani.bsky.social @laddkeith.com

Evaluating the Implementation and Effectiveness of Heat Action Plans

Extreme heat is a deadly and growing threat to cities worldwide. As recognition of heat risks increases, local governments have begun developing Heat Action Plans (HAPs) to outline goals, relevant inf...

preparecenter.org

Q&A with CU Boulder Today on heat resilience www.colorado.edu/today/2026/0...

Heat is the world's deadliest climate hazard. Are cities ready?

Extreme heat is no longer a rare event, and protecting communities will require coordinated efforts, says geography professor Sara Meerow.

colorado.edu

After 9 amazing years at ASU, I'm moving to the University of Colorado Boulder @colorado.edu, where I'll be associate professor in @cugeography.bsky.social, @cuboulderibs.bsky.social, & @cires.colorado.edu starting in August. Excited for this new adventure! www.colorado.edu/geography/sa...

As deadly heat dominates the news here's some practical guidance on one of the best ways cities can make it more bearable for residents: plan for shade. We highlight some lessons learned from developing Phoenix's first comprehensive shade plan: www.planning.org/planning/202...

Phoenix’s First-of-its-Kind Plan Shows Shade is More Than Just Trees Now

Six ways planners can combine vegetative and built shade to improve comfort and safety on the ground.

planning.org

☀️ ICYMI: Check out my new commentary with @sarameerow.bsky.social, where we argue that "we are living through a 'heatshed' moment, a critical turning point in which heat must be rapidly addressed to protect health and livelihoods worldwide." doi.org/10.1080/0735... #extremeheat #climatechange

This study is the culmination of several years of plan evaluation work through the SW-IFL with @sarameerow.bsky.social, @malinir.bsky.social, @shaylynntrego.bsky.social, @saidasobhani.bsky.social, and many @uarizona.bsky.social and @arizonastateuni.bsky.social students.

The plans have high-quality participation and coordination, but lack detail on vulnerability and climate change uncertainty. We also found opportunities to better target heat mitigation policies to the highest heat risk areas, diversify heat-related policies, and improve plan integration efforts.

📢 Our new open-access paper is out in Urban Climate on using three plan evaluation approaches to better understand how Arizona cities are advancing heat resilience. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #extremeheat #heatresilience #urbanplanning

Although our Center for Heat Resilient Communities was unfortunately terminated early, our team continued working hard to complete this resource and ensure its availability to communities across the nation. Appreciate everyone's work on this! Kelly Turner, @sarameerow.bsky.social

Excited to share this actionable resource for communities to advance their heat resilience: Building Heat Resilient Communities: A Toolkit for Local Heat Planning, Decision-Making, & Action: innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/publication/... #heatresilience #extremeheat #heatactionplan

Heat Resilience Planning Framework and Workbook Guide | UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation

Heat Resilience framework and workbook for communities seeking local planning tools, technical guidance, and actionable strategies.

innovation.luskin.ucla.edu

This should be our "heatshed" moment. Commentary with @laddkeith.com out in the Journal of Urban Affairs arguing that heat resilience, actions to mitigate, manage, and govern growing heat risks, should be an urgent priority. Part of a special issue on Extreme Heat in Cities doi.org/10.1080/0735...

New comment in Nature Cities on "Spatial Planning and the Governance of Urban Greening". I argue that green infrastructure spatial planning processes are underexamined in research & practice and propose an agenda for improving them #greeninfrastructure #naturebasedsolutions Full text: rdcu.be/faKfb

Society, Earth system science, and my own work have all greatly benefited from NSF NCAR. I hope this will not come to pass and that I will be able to continue collaborating with amazing NSF NCAR scientists long into the future www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump Administration Aims to Dismantle Key Climate Research Hub

The US plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a key climate-science hub in Boulder, Colorado, which the Trump administration says strayed from its mission decades ago by taki...

bloomberg.com

I'm honored to be named one of 260 Highly Cited Researchers in the Social Sciences category globally by Clarivate in 2025. This would not have been possible without an amazing, long list of co-authors, mentors, and students over the past decade: clarivate.com/highly-cited...

Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2025

The Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list identifies and celebrates individuals who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their fields of research. Through rigorous selection criteria and ...

clarivate.com

Excited to join the @climateresilience.bsky.social's new Heat Resilience Exchange as a Senior Advisor, along with @vkturner.bsky.social and @sarameerow.bsky.social! onebillionresilient.org/2025/11/06/a... #heatresilience #extremeheat #heatactionplanning

The Atlantic Council’s Climate Resilience Center appoints Jane Gilbert as Chief Heat Ambassador

The Atlantic Council’s Climate Resilience Center announced the appointment of Jane Gilbert as its first chief heat ambassador.

onebillionresilient.org

Our School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at ASU is hiring at the assistant or associate level in urban climate!

Urban Affairs Association (UAA)@uaanews.bsky.social · 11mo ago

JOB AD: Assistant or Associate Professor (Urban Climate focus) (Arizona State University) urbanaffairsassociation.org/2025/10/23/a...

New open access publication with Paul Schulze based on his undergraduate thesis, which he completed in AZ as part of the NEURUS research exchange program! It looks at how local water planners in the Phoenix Metro are adapting to future water system uncertainties doi.org/10.1007/s110...

New essay with @anoukfransen.bsky.social on the workshop we organized last spring in Detroit.

The Nature of Cities@tnoc.bsky.social · 12mo ago

#TNOCessay Detroit is not empty. A participatory (counter) mapping workshop revealed the city’s networks of care, connection, and nature, challenging old narratives of “vacancy.” How can mapping become a tool for empowerment and belonging, not exclusion? Join the conversation 👇 🔗 buff.ly/wBlhCKH

We hosted the SW-IFL All Hands Meeting at the @uarizona.bsky.social with over 65 researchers, students, and stakeholders from across the state yesterday, and finally had a chance to get a group photo of our current Planning Discovery research team, led by @sarameerow.bsky.social and me!

Over the years I've researched how #urban #resilience is conceptualized by different academic disciplines, practitioners, & the public. I synthesized my thinking on the concept in a book chapter based on a talk at the 2022 Association for Literary Urban Studies Conference: doi.org/10.1007/978-...

Urban Resilience: Disruptive Discourse or More of the Same for Cities?

Urban resilience discourse has become increasingly pervasive over the last decade, with numerous studies, policy initiatives, and plans focusing on resilient cities. Whether this urban resilience agen...

doi.org

New article on #heat governance & climate services. We interviewed and surveyed heat practitioners from across the US about their challenges and decision-support needs: authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

It's hot almost everywhere & our team has 2 new studies of #heat #planning both led by former master's students: One on #Vienna, Austria and the other looking at 2 neighborhoods in #Boston: Vienna: authors.elsevier.com/a/1la4Z7sfVZ... Boston: doi.org/10.1080/0735...

Some good news today: 2 of the geography PhD students in my lab successfully defended their dissertations! Congrats to new Drs. Philip Gilbertson and Alex Cliff for your persistence and important work on climate resilience!

I was reflecting on the heatwave that impacted much of the U.S. this week, my Op-Ed from 2021 with @sarameerow.bsky.social is just as relevant today as it was then: "The reality is that all cities, regardless of size or location, need to plan for heat resilience now." news.trust.org/item/...

An amazing way to kick off my month at NCAR in Boulder this summer!

Ladd Keith@laddkeith.com · last yr.

Spent the last two days at NCAR in beautiful Boulder, CO for a NSF extreme heat workshop with fellow heat scholars and inspiring early career academics. Here's @sarameerow.bsky.social presenting our heat governance work! #extremeheat #heatgovernance #heatresilience