While often ignored, heat affects all of us throughout every moment of every day and our relationship to heat is defined by many factors. Our biology, built environment, occupation, society, psychology, and more all influence how an individual experiences heat and how certain communities are at worse risk for heat-related illness than others.

Since at least the 1950s, the frequency, intensity, and duration of heat waves—and heat wave season—have been increasing globally.

The effects of extreme heat include: discomfort, illness, injury, cognitive decline, death, crop damage, property damage, death or injury to livestock, productivity, increased wildfires, increased power use + power outages, and exacerbating the effects of drought.

Furthermore, heat waves result in more deaths per year than any other natural disaster. Heat is a multi-sited, multi-scalar, and multi-disciplinary problem.

Therefore, we at Heat Lab attempt to explore heat through our interdisciplinary research projects under the mentorship of Dr. Bharat Venkat.