The Sustainability Institute’s (SI) Student Sustainability Grant has been providing funding to facilitate student research and project implementation success for years. In 2022, SI granted funding to third-year PhD candidate Peng Chen. Chen utilized his grant in a unique way that led to the recent publication of his work as a journal article in Urban Climate.
Chen’s research focuses on environmental justice, specifically the influence of spatial patterns of urban green infrastructure (UGI) on heat distribution. UGI, as defined by Chen’s research, is the “network of planned and unplanned green spaces, spanning both the public and private realms and managed as an integrated system to provide diverse benefits.”
“I was inspired to do this research because summers are getting too hot. As a result, injustice exists regarding heat distribution, and certain groups of people are facing disproportional heat,” said Chen.
Chen’s research found consistent heat disparities within marginalized groups, as these population groups experience more fragmented distribution of UGI patches. That is, marginalized groups often live in areas with less green space, and as a result, experience increased negative heat exposure during hot days.
Therefore, Chen said, “it is crucial to adopt a context-specific strategy to address urban heat inequity. Improving spatial patterns of UGI and increasing UGI coverage in marginalized areas can help mitigate heat distribution inequities.”
“There are also a lot of nuances involved in addition to the quantity of UGI in regard to climate justice,” Chen added. This makes the topic difficult to study, but even more rewarding.
The SI Student Sustainability Grant gave Chen the opportunity to present his research at numerous conferences. This project was a multi-year effort, and at each conference Chen attended, he received more feedback for improvement. Additionally, the grant allowed Chen to have assistance in writing and proof-reading, as English is not his first language.
Chen’s future research plans are to study urban climate as it relates to asthma, and his PhD dissertation is focused on residual and recognition justice within the environment. Chen said he chose to focus his efforts on distribution justice first because “that (distribution justice) is preliminary to understanding residual and recognition justice.”
Read Chen’s published research in Urban Climate here.
Story by Reily Jacobs Bell, SI student communications intern.
Story image from Chen’s Urban Climate journal publication.