Episode 1 - Cooling the Urban Heat Island
2022 has seen unprecedented heat waves across the globe, threatening infrastructure systems, sparking continent-wide wildfires, and disrupting food systems with thousands dying due to heat-related causes. This episode, Sustainable Futures is joined by Dr. Brad Bass to explore one of the most direct manifestations of climate change, the urban heat island - what it is, how it works, and what can be done about it.
Guest
Dr. Brad Bass, PhD
University of Toronto
Dr. Brad Bass is a researcher and environmental scientist. He received is PhD in Geography from Penn State University, in 1989 and in 1998, co-authored Greenbacks from Green Roofs, the first green roof publication intended for Canadian audiences. His research interests include modelling complexity, water quality policy, management alternatives for reducing urban phosphorus loads into the Great Lakes and the economic issues around public policy. He is Associate Executive Director of the Foundation for Student Science and Technology, and Director of the University Research Experience in Complex Systems (URECS), which brings secondary school and university students together to explore the interaction between environmental change and health and also offers workshops on the simulation of environmental change and health, green infrastructure, networking and the Prisoner’s Dilemma.
Host
Steven Peck, GRP, HASLA
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities
Steven spearheaded the first green roof demonstration project on Toronto City Hall 20 years ago and the mandatory green roof policy in Toronto a decade ago. This innovative policy has resulted in more than 6 million additional square feet of green space across the city. Due to Steven’s work, GRHC has helped to win green roof policy victories in San Francisco, Washington, DC; Portland, Oregon; and Denver, Colorado. Steven also founded Green Infrastructure Ontario coalition to bring together organizations that share an interest in the protection and development of green infrastructure in Ontario. In 2007 he co-founded the World Green Infrastructure Network, an international organization that promotes the use of green infrastructure around the world.
