Socializing with Scientists

Scott Krayenhoff helps hot cities cool off (he's an urban climatologist)

Season 1 Episode 8

Scott has always been a deep thinker. Dinner table conversations on his family's homestead on Vancouver Island instilled in him a strong environmental ethic, and a love for math and science pushed him to excel in college.

But when a professor posed the question, how much cooler would Toronto's summer climate be if half the rooftops were green and plant-based? his imagination took off, and he dove into the field of atmospheric science.

Scott Krayenhoff is now an associate professor at the University of Guelph's School of Environmental Sciences and recently published a research paper in PNAS that recounts simple mitigations that cities could do to reduce heat stress (such as planting trees and adding solar panels to buildings); kids likely know this intimately by how hot their bare feet feel on blacktop versus grass. Listen to Scott talk about how he became a scientist, what keeps him motivated, and why he thinks we need to connect deeply with our hyperlocal environment.

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