sensors at WE ACT for Environmental Justice

Harlem Heat Project

Posted on Miscellaneous Pages by · July 11, 2016 3:42 PM

NEXT MEETING

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LATEST UPDATES

07/09/2016: Over a dozen WE ACT members became new citizen scientists as they signed up to participate in the Harlem Heat Project. By doing so, they will be placing small sensors in their homes that will log the indoor summer heat and humidity in their non-air conditioned homes.

WHAT IS THE 'HARLEM HEAT PROJECT'?

The Harlem Heat Project is a pioneering news initiative during the summer 2016 season bringing together a unique team of non-profit journalism and community partners including WNYC, AdaptNY, WHCR-FM90.3, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, and ISeeChange, to investigate how summer heat affects the health of residents of the Harlem section of Manhattan and explore ways to build community resilience.

The Harlem Heat Project will use heat-and-humidity sensors to capture hard-to-access indoor air conditions with the help of a crew of community-based citizen scientists. These "ambassadors" will also gather updates about residents via the ISeeChange mobile app and platform. Reporters will document the process and the results in multiple installments over the summer.

WHAT IS ISeeChange?

ISeeChange (https://www.iseechange.org/) is empowering communities to observe how weather and climate affect their environment.

ISeeChange Community Investigations allow local civic groups, neighborhoods, and citizen science groups to call communities into action to document specific investigations over time and sync posts with their own custom data. From documenting nuisance flooding with photographs to urban heat islands with sensors, ISeeChange tools can empower communities to develop their own baseline data and participate in adaptation decisions.

HOW TO BECOME AN AMBASSADOR

Thank you for volunteering to be an ambassador for your community!

Use this guide to register members in your community, check in with them weekly and help them document their stories about heat.

GETTING STARTED / HOW WE CAN LEARN TOGETHER

So just how hot is it getting inside apartments without air conditioning? How does urban heat affect our health and daily life? How can we adapt? As ambassadors you are our community reporters, gathering updates and empowering community members to use their voices, and tell stories together with us about the heat.

Step 1: Invite Your Community

Introduce the Project

We want to cast a light on the health risks of extreme heat and how it impacts our communities season to season, year to year. Recruit members of your community - ideally with no air conditioning - to help us document the heat season with sensors and sightings about their experiences this summer.

Add Participants & Register Their Apartment:

https://www.iseechange.org/forms/harlem-heat

Step 2: Check in Weekly

Ask About the Heat

Ask participants about their week: What changed in their routines? How do they cope? How do they feel? Is the heat impacting their health? Get into the details and post to ISeeChange.

Gather Data From Sensors

Remove the memory card, note the label, and send it to John Keefe. Replace new memory card until it clicks into place. Push the RESET button. The red light should pulse 9-10 times and go dark. Ready! Sense again!