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Intersection of Public Transit, Extreme Heat, and Social Vulnerability – Sangwon Lee, MSW and Jennifer M. First, PhD, MSW

PM Breakouts – 60 minutes

OVERVIEW
We investigated the microenvironment and social vulnerability of heat-vulnerable bus stops in Knoxville. Identified bus stops are poor microenvironments without trees and shelters. The hottest bus stops are concentrated in the highly developed and densely populated areas of West Knoxville and Downtown Knoxville and in South, North, Northeast, and Northwest Knoxville. These areas have relatively poor public infrastructure and a prominent pattern of social vulnerability regarding socioeconomic status and racial and ethnic minority status. Sustainable urban infrastructure needs improvements in public transport to protect citizens’ health from the Urban Heat Island.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
As a result of attending this presentation, participants will:

1. Participants will gain knowledge of why the Urban Heat Island is a climate, public health, and environmental justice issue;

2. Participants will be able to identify the local microenvironment and social vulnerability of heat-vulnerable bus stops in Knoxville; and

3. Participants will be able to discuss adaptation and mitigation strategies to better prepare communities for the Urban Heat Island.

TARGET AUDIENCE
Macro practitioners, social workers who do direct practice with systematically marginalized populations, and stakeholders involved in the community’s climate change response and sustainability planning.

Sangwon Lee
Jennifer First headshot
Jennifer M. First

PRESENTERS
Sangwon Lee, MSW, is a PhD student in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her research focuses on climate risk and vulnerability, and spatial inequality. She is particularly interested in integrating community experiences and resources into climate-related risk responses.

Jennifer M. First, PhD, MSW, is an Assistant Professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a Faculty Fellow in the Disaster and Community Crisis Center at the University of Missouri. Her research focuses on human experiences with disaster events and the consequences of collective trauma.