Colleen Reid

Colleen Reid: Heat waves are more dangerous than you think

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 00:14:27 +0000

Colleen Reid: Heat waves are more dangerous than you think Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 07/22/2023 - 18:14

Lisa Marshall , ��Ƶ Boulder Today

The numbers are staggering: As of Wednesday, Phoenix had hit 20 straight days at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius); El Paso, Texas, had sweltered for 33 days above 100 F; and Las Vegas is under an excessive heat warning, expected to reach a scorching 113 F this week.

Even Colorado, which has enjoyed a relatively cool early summer, was bracing for mid- to high-90s starting Sunday and stretching through next week.

Excessive heat can sicken and, in some cases, kill, said Colleen Reid, an assistant professor of geography at ��Ƶ Boulder. During last summer’s heat wave in Europe, 62,000 people perished. Yet the threat heat poses is often underestimated.

Colleen Reid

“People tend to say, ‘Oh it’s hot. I’m used to being hot.’ But some studies say that extreme heat actually kills more people in the U.S. every year than any other weather disaster,” said Reid, who studies the health impacts of extreme heat and wildfire smoke.

��Ƶ Boulder Today spoke with Reid about how heat impacts health, who is most vulnerable, and what people can do to protect themselves.

Heat waves are deceptively dangerous. Why?

The interesting thing about heat is that you don’t see it. You look out your window and you don’t see a tornado or a hurricane or a fire. It looks normal, and without clear imagery, it’s tough to get people to understand the severity of the threat. A lot of people don’t take precautions.

Temperatures around the country are all over the place right now. Is this the new normal?

We will definitely see more of this in the future. Already, we are seeing hotter, longer and more frequent heat waves than we did 10 or 20 years ago, and that is exactly what was predicted by the climate scientists. The projections are, unfortunately, suggesting it will get worse.

What goes on inside your body when exposed to extreme heat?

Your body tries to cool off as best as it can, so you sweat more. When you sweat, you lose electrolytes, and you need those electrolytes for lots of different bodily functions. You are also losing fluid, so you can get dehydrated, which can cause confusion and inhibit the good judgment it takes to stop and cool off. If you can’t cool off, your insides essentially cook.

We know from research that people are more likely to have heatstroke and show up in the hospital or the emergency department with electrolyte imbalance or kidney problems during a heat wave. More than 700 people die in the U.S. each year from heat-related illness. (By comparison, about 88 perish in floods and 68 from tornadoes.)

Are certain populations particularly vulnerable?

People with kidney disease, as kidneys are very affected by the heat. Some prescription medications (including psychotropics, diuretics and medications for Parkinson’s disease) also interfere with body temperature regulation. The elderly, as their bodies have trouble thermoregulating just due to the natural aging process. Similarly, really young children, particularly those too young to be able to use words to explain their discomfort. And, of course, anyone who does not have access to places to cool off.

Are there socioeconomic factors at play here, too?

Yes. We know from my research and that of others that homes that have air conditioning are more likely to be homes owned by wealthier families. And even when people have an air conditioner but are struggling to pay their electric bill, they don't always turn it on. People with lower economic means also tend to live in communities that have less tree cover and fewer parks, and areas with vegetation are cooler than areas filled with concrete.

It’s also been documented that even when you control for income, predominantly whiter communities have more green space, and Black and brown communities tend to have less green space. There's an environmental injustice there. Cities are getting hotter and hotter, and the most vulnerable individuals—the people least likely to have air conditioning—are also the ones least likely to have a park nearby to cool off in.

Keeping cool

Warning signs of heatstroke vary but may include the following, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

An extremely high body temperature (above 103 F) Red,
hot and dry skin (no sweating)
Rapid, strong pulse
Throbbing headache
Dizziness
Nausea
Confusion
Unconsciousness

How can individuals protect themselves?

When you hear there's an extreme heat warning, take note and modify what you're doing that day or at least when you're doing it. If you're going to exercise outdoors, try to do it before the temperature gets too hot. As far as work goes, Colorado has a law to protect agricultural workers by requiring their employers to provide shade and water breaks. But not all outdoor workers—think about construction workers or roofers—have those laws in place in Colorado.

If you must be out in the heat, drink lots of fluids, including electrolyte drinks. Don't drink alcohol or other things that dehydrate you. Seek shade when you can.

How can society prepare for a hotter future?

We need to be doing everything we can to stop emitting fossil fuels to try and slow down climate change. But that's going to take a long time to have an effect.

Meantime, we need to protect people's health now and be ramping up for the fact that it's going to get worse in the future. We need to think about shifting when the workday is in the hottest times of the year. Already, in Arizona, some construction is done at night. We need to think about shifting when sports practices are for kids. And we need to have plans in place to help vulnerable individuals when a heat wave strikes.

How do we help the most vulnerable people?

Cooling centers are great, but you need to get the word out that they exist and you need to provide transportation to them, because a lot of the individuals who need them the most do not have their own vehicles. These centers also need to allow for pets, because people don't want to leave their pet suffering in the heat.

There's a lot of people who just don't want to go to a community cooling center, but if you said they could go to a movie theater or to the library or to the grocery store or a mall and just spend some time to cool their core body temperature down, they might go for that. There are also efforts to create networks where people check on their elderly neighbors who live alone and may be overheating and not realize it.

Most importantly, we need to recognize that extreme heat can kill, and we need to take it seriously.

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Colleen Reid: Public Health Impacts of Wildfire

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 19:38:32 +0000

Colleen Reid: Public Health Impacts of Wildfire Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/25/2022 - 13:38

Dr. Colleen Reid, an assistant professor in Geography, has published many studies that research the air quality and associated health impacts of wildfire events. Due to this expertise, after the Marshall Fire which ignited on December 30, 2021 just outside of Boulder and destroyed over 1000 buildings in Boulder County, Dr. Reid was asked by colleagues in chemistry (Dr. Joost DeGouw) and engineering (Drs. Michael Hannigan, Marina Vance, and Christine Wiedinmyer) to join them in collecting data on air quality and health impacts of this wildfire event. This event was particularly unique in that most of the fuel burned was human made (i.e., buildings, vehicles, and home furnishings) rather than vegetation. Due to this, the chemistry of the smoke was likely different from vegetation-dominated fires. Additionally, although a large number of buildings burned, many homes that were not destroyed were severely smoke damaged such that many people were afraid to move back into their homes. The research group quickly set up a variety of monitoring equipment in smoke-affected homes to assess what types of gases people were breathing in and to assess whether different cleaning efforts done by homeowners or private entities improves the indoor air quality in the homes. The group received some seed funding from CIRES, and a RAPID award from NSF to help fund the analysis of the indoor air quality data. Dr. Reid’s work on these projects involves attempting to understand the outside air pollution in the community after the event using low-cost sensors for fine particulate matter which may increase during clean up or the many high wind events that frequent the Front Range which could resuspend the ash that has of yet not been fully cleaned up. Dr. Reid is also working on a survey that will assess the physical and mental health impacts of this event in collaboration with Dr. Courtney Welton-Mitchell of the Natural Hazards Center.

Early in the fall, Dr. Reid was awarded an early career grant from the EPA for a proposal titled “Informing school decision-making during wildfire events: evaluation of indoor PM2.5 exposures and associated health impacts in children”. Dr. Reid submitted this in response to the RFA by the EPA on “Interventions and Communication Strategies to Reduce Health Risks of Wildland Fire Smoke Exposures (2021)”. This funding provides Dr. Reid and her research team with $549,919 in which they will be placing low-cost sensors in schools and homes across the Front Range to better understand air quality and health impacts on children during wildfire events. Current guidance states that schools should determine whether to close when impacted by wildfire smoke based on whether schools or children’s homes are likely to have better indoor air quality. Most schools and communities, however, do not have reliable information on air pollution levels inside and outside of their schools and homes during wildfire events to inform decisions about where children should shelter. Dr. Reid’s research aims to collect data to inform decision-making around whether schools or homes have cleaner air during wildfire events. Her group will be collecting data on asthma inhaler usage and daily symptom surveys by children in participating schools. They will analyze the associations between these health measures and daily and hourly air pollution levels inside children’s schools and homes to assess if and at what concentrations the air pollution begins to affect the health of children. Because they are enrolling schools with a variety of different characteristics that could influence indoor air quality, they hope the work will also inform on measures schools can take to improve air quality during high air pollution events such as wildfires.

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2020 Spring Newsletter Published

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Jun 2020 22:38:38 +0000

2020 Spring Newsletter Published Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 06/21/2020 - 16:38

The 2020 Spring Newsletter has been published and is available for viewing. The newsletter is filled with department news, alumni updates, and articles by faculty and students.

Contents:

Message from the Department Chair, pg 2
Mara Goldman: Reaction to Coronavirus, pg 3
Page Hartwell: An Undergraduate's Perspective on COVID-19, pg 4
Satellite-based snowpack information to inform water resource management during the COVID-19 pandemic, pgs 5-7
Professors Seeking COVID-19 Funding, pg 8
Human Geography Dimensions of COVID-19 in China, pg 8
New Faculty: Introducing A. Marie Ranjbar, pg 9
Narrating Nature: book by Mara Goldman, pg 10
Emily Yeh: Sabbatical Report: Pastoralists of the Upper Yangtze, pgs 11-12
Alumnus Update: Brooke E. Marston, pg 13
Department News, pg 14
Donor Support, pgs 15-16

All previous newsletters are on our Newsletters page.

For a more enjoyable reading experience, open the newsletter file and adjust your browser window to the same size as the newsletter page. The Table of Contents and other links are active within the document.

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Colleen Reid: Emerging Scholar Award

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Jun 2020 22:09:56 +0000

Colleen Reid: Emerging Scholar Award Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 06/21/2020 - 16:09

Professor Colleen Reid was awarded the Emerging Scholar Award from the Health and Medical Geography Section of the American Association of Geographers. Normally this is announced in person at the AAG meeting in April, but since the convention was cancelled this year, it was handled differently. For more information about the award, see the call for nominations. Two scholars were chosen this year.

The award seeks to recognize early career scholars who show significant potential for distinguished scholarship in health and/or medical geography. Early career scholars who are in their 2nd-8th years of receiving their Ph.D. degree from an accredited degree program at the time of the 2020 AAG meeting are eligible for the award.

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Colleen Reid: Outstanding Mentor Award Honorable Mention

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 22:48:31 +0000

Colleen Reid: Outstanding Mentor Award Honorable Mention Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/03/2020 - 16:48

UROP

"I walk away from every single meeting with Dr. Colleen Reid feeling inspired and valued. Working with her has been one of the defining aspects of my undergraduate experience. I now feel confident writing all sections of a scientific publication and speaking in both formal and informal settings. From interviews with potential Ph.D. advisors at the top biostatistics programs in the country, I recognize how well I have been supported and prepared for this next stage of my career."

Student Nominator: Ellen Considine

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Alumni and Student Updates Spring 2019

Anonymous — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:57:58 +0000

Alumni and Student Updates Spring 2019 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/01/2019 - 11:57

[anchors selector="#content h3" title="Updates from Alumni:" /]

Gina Li (MA, 2019)

In June 2019, Gina Li will be starting a job as a Geospatial Data Engineer at Descartes Labs in San Francisco, CA. Headquartered in Santa Fe, NM, Descartes Labs is a start-up founded by several top scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2014. The company focuses on building cloud-based geospatial tools that can retrieve and process massive amounts of different types of earth observation data (i.e. satellite imagery and weather) at scale and on the fly. In addition, the company develops machine learning models that can be run on such data in their cloud platform to answer questions regarding natural disasters, the spread of disease, and food security. With the explosion of earth observation data in recent years, there has subsequently been a need to also process and make sense of that data efficiently. Gina writes: “My experience working with Dr. Reid's environmental health group as an RA at ��Ƶ EarthLab as well as processing my own health and meteorological datasets for my MA thesis in the Geography Department has given me insight and exposure to the importance of geospatial processing to answer real-world questions.”

Kai Kresek (BA, 2018)

I am currently living and working in Washington DC. I'm putting the GIS, remote sensing and research skills I gained in my undergraduate studies to work by helping to manage data and support environmental research at the World Resources Institute. I work as a data specialist with Global Forest Watch, an online platform that provides data and tools for monitoring forests. This platform is used around the world to manage forests, stop illegal deforestation and fires, monitor commodity supply chains and conduct research. I am excited to be gaining more experience with managing and analyzing big data. I also feel very fortunate to be working alongside brilliant colleagues from around the world. I'm also learning more about science communication through direct engagement with the journalists, scientists and advocates who rely on our data.

I feel so fortunate to have been a part of the Geography department! There are so many opportunities for students to take useful courses with knowledgeable and enthusiastic professors, as well as to directly apply the skills they learn in the classroom to research. The remote sensing, GIS and statistics courses have turned out to be extremely useful in preparing me for a career with an environmental research organization, and the interdisciplinary approach that the department takes has given me a solid background in human and physical geography. Research opportunities with Earth Lab, and with professors like Dr. Colleen Reid and Dr. Bill Travis gave me great hands on experience. Geography is such a diverse and vibrant field to work in right now, and I am so thankful that ��Ƶ Geography influenced me to pursue this career path.

I just want to let the professors and TAs know that they're doing an amazing job! As a student who did the GIS track, the GIS, Remote Sensing and Statistics professors should know that the courses they teach are so incredibly useful, and they are really setting students up for success. Though they were often some of the most difficult courses I took, I use skills I learned in their courses every day! They seem like they have a good idea of what students need to know in order to be successful in the Geography field.

Andrew Linke (PhD, 2013)

Many congratulations ��Ƶ Geography alum Andrew Linke, currently Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Utah, for winning the Stanley D. Brunn Junior Scholar Award, given by the Political Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers.

Andrew Linke (right) posing with Stanley Brunn

Keith Wardrip (MA, 2005)

Since graduating from ��Ƶ with my master's degree in Geography in 2005, I have had the privilege to pursue research related to community and economic development. My career began in the nonprofit sector in Washington, DC, but for the last seven years, I've worked in the Community Development Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Focused on issues impacting low-income communities, my research has run the gamut topically, from affordable housing and employment to community development finance and access to credit. I attribute my own employment opportunities to the instruction and guidance that I received at ��Ƶ, as well as an internship that provided me with hands-on research experience.

In addition to the knowledge I gained while completing my degree, I created friendships that have lasted through the years. I would be remiss if I didn't mention my advisor, Gary Gaile, who left us too soon but who had an impact on me that was proportional to his size. I didn't realize it at the time, but the weekly Intellectual Cafe that Gary hosted in his office would become one of my fondest memories of the program.

Robert (Bob) Widner (MA, 1992)

My ��Ƶ Geography degree spurred my life-long interest in land use planning and government regulation. The degree provided a springboard to a Masters in Urban & Regional Planning from UCD and a law degree from the University of Kansas. I now practice law representing government clients with an emphasis in land development and land regulation. Professor Clark's "Urban Geography" class in 1983 was the genesis of my wonderfully enjoyable and successful career.

Helen Louise Young (PhD, 1975)

I am a retired software engineer from Raytheon Company. I established the Louise Young Diversity Lecture Series at my undergrad alma mater, East Central University, Ada Oklahoma. Speakers have included the oldest American woman to have climbed Mt. Everest, a Holocaust Survivor, a Navajo Code Talker, a Tuskegee Airman and R.V. Burgin, a World War 2 Marine who fought in the fiercest battle of the Pacific Therater, the Battle of Pelieu. Burgin recounted his memories in the book, “Islands of the Damned,” which was background material for the Tom Hanks-Steven Spielberg epoch television series on Showtime, “The Pacific.” Burgin was portrayed as one of the Marines.

I taught Geography at my undergrad alma mater, East Central University in Ada Oklahoma from 1971-1974. In ‘74, I took a sabbatical to finish my dissertation. I moved to Denver and wrote about South Park Colorado, “Land and Water Acquisition In Relation to Present and Potential Land Use Change in South Park, Colorado.” In 1970, my Master’s thesis at UCB “The White Rocks Natural Area Study,” was incorporated into a Boulder County publication as one of six natural area studies. Eventually Boulder County preserved these natural areas. I’m proud to have been a part of that project, headed by Professor Emeritus Donald D. MacPhail (d). Dr. MacPhail was my dissertation director and Professor Emeritus M. John Loeffler (d) was my Master’s thesis’s director.

On October 11, 2016, I was a co-presenter at National Coming Out Day along with my wife, Vivienne Armstrong, whom I met at UCB in April 1971 through the campus’s Gay Liberation Front. Both Vivienne and I have been prominent figures in the nation’s LGBTQ rights movement for over 47 years.

Terry Vincent McIntyre (BA, 1961)

In the foreign service, I worked on Law of the Sea for several years. I guess it was because I could read a map. I was an Economics Officer, but spent time as the Resource and Energy Officer in Australia and the southwest Pacific, Brazil, and later Venezuela mainly because I knew a bit about natural resources.

Additionally, I was the Deputy Director of the Fulbright Commission in Brazil for 8 years (where I currently live). Some Geographers passed thru during this time. I have a MS from Oregon State which, at the time, was called “Natural Resources”. I have a PhD in International Studies from American University and I was the first person to pass the first comp there in Geography. They invented something for me!

Other Recent Graduates and Their Theses Titles

Katherine Hale, M.A, 2018, Streamflow sensitivity to climate warming and a shift from snowfall to rainfall, University of Colorado at Boulder. Current Position: PhD Student in ��Ƶ Geography
Keith Jennings, Ph.D., 2018, Evaluating the climatic and energy balance controls on snow accumulation and melt processes in mountain snowpacks, University of Colorado at Boulder. Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Nevada.
Qinghuan Zhang, Ph.D., 2018, University of Colorado at Boulder, Modeling the hydrology and hydrochemistry of the Boulder Creek watershed.
Theodore Barnhart, Ph.D., 2018, University of Colorado at Boulder, The response of streamflow and evapotranspiration to changes in snowmelt across the Western United States. Current Position: US Geological Survey, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center.

Katie Hale

Keith Jennings

Qinghuan Zhang

Theo Barnhart

Emma Hines

Following graduation this Spring, Emma Hines will start a position as a Research Fellow with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Climate and Health Program. Emma will receive training focusing on assessing health vulnerability and risk to the impacts of climate change, as well as receiving mentorship from staff scientists through team projects, all while applying her existing skills and learn new techniques related to statistical analysis, GIS mapping, and risk assessment. Emma’s work will involve using varying methodologies including literature review, data acquisition and cleaning, epidemiological analysis, and development of guidance documents and technical assistance to aid health departments in assessing and addressing health impacts arising from flooding, wildfires, and extreme heat. Emma will also have the opportunity to participate in relevant trainings, workgroups, communities of practice, meetings and conferences to further my knowledge and skills.

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GEOG 4120 / 5100 Special Topics in Geography: Climate Change and Health

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 19:19:54 +0000

GEOG 4120 / 5100 Special Topics in Geography: Climate Change and Health Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/08/2017 - 13:19

Climate change is projected to alter the physical environment in ways that will affect human health globally, regionally and locally. The choices that society makes to respond to climate change also have health implications. The course will explore the scientific evidence to date of the health impacts associated with a changing climate. We will begin with a brief overview of climate science and will learn about the variety of epidemiological, risk assessment, and statistical methods used to evaluate the impacts of climate change on health locally, regionally, and globally. The public health implications, positive and negative, of efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change will also be elaborated, including discussions of ethical, political, and economic aspects of these efforts.

The course will consist of a variety of lectures, student-led and professor-led discussions. Students will also have the opportunity to investigate an area within the climate change and health literature of their own particular interest. As the field of climate change and health is inherently interdisciplinary, this course will benefit from a diversity of perspectives and students of physical sciences, natural sciences, social sciences and engineering are encouraged to enroll.

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