utep community service

Project Oasis Optimizer: Heat, Water & Justice
[Unraveling the Benefits, Costs, and Equity of Tree Coverage in Desert Cities]

overview

Our team will produce tools to help stakeholders, who want to plan tree distributions in desert cities, by producing end-user oriented decision-making tools, that empower communities contending with excessive heat and water scarcity.

Mayer, UTEP PI

Mayer, UTEP PI

Mueller, TTU, Co-PI

Mueller, TTU, Co-PI

Heyman, UTEP Co-PI

Heyman, UTEP Co-PI

Jenerette, UCR, Co-PI

Jenerette, UCR, Co-PI

Ponce, PB, SP

Ponce, PB, SP

Hernandez, AYUDA, SP

Hernandez, AYUDA, SP

Kripa, TTU, SP

Kripa, TTU, SP

Simmons, ECO, SP

Simmons, ECO, SP

Guillen, AYUDA, SP

Guillen, AYUDA, SP

Chacon, AYUDA, SP

Chacon, AYUDA, SP

Chakraborty, UCSB, SP

Chakraborty, UCSB, SP

Mayer, UTEP PI

Mayer, UTEP PI

Mueller, TTU, Co-PI

Mueller, TTU, Co-PI

Heyman, UTEP Co-PI

Heyman, UTEP Co-PI

Jenerette, UCR, Co-PI

Jenerette, UCR, Co-PI

Ponce, PB, SP

Ponce, PB, SP

Hernandez, AYUDA, SP

Hernandez, AYUDA, SP

Kripa, TTU, SP

Kripa, TTU, SP

Simmons, ECO, SP

Simmons, ECO, SP

Guillen, AYUDA, SP

Guillen, AYUDA, SP

Chacon, AYUDA, SP

Chacon, AYUDA, SP

Chakraborty, UCSB, SP

Chakraborty, UCSB, SP

Why

problem statement

Vulnerable residents in desert cities often suffer from insufficient cooling in their homes. Excessive heat can have adverse physical, mental and emotional impacts. Increasing temperatures and water scarcity are environmental traits of these cities.

Achieving environmental justice in this context should consider tradeoffs between the cooling benefits of urban vegetation, namely trees, and the consumption of scarce water in a hot, dry urban environments.
However, too much remains unspecified in our conceptual understanding of the tree-cooling-water system to be able to create usable decision-making tools for householders, neighborhoods, and planners.

How

value proposition

Our transdisciplinary team will produce decision-making tools that optimize tree canopy coverage in desert cities to temper the effects of heat on well-being, water consumption, and environmental justice.

The training and inclusion of trusted community organizations to involve low-income residents will lead to long-term effective changes. Engagement with end-users will provide insights to make tools more effective for them.

deliverables

This project will result in a set of best practices and options for desert communities, including end-user-oriented tools for decision-makers at multiple scales, from householders to community organizations to city and county planners.

project partners