Urban park with shaded mass transit station

Advancing children’s environmental health in our warming world

HEAT Lab identifies health issues facing children and develops and tests potential solutions.

Heatmap outlining heat zones within urban center

Lab purpose

Protecting the health of children, equitably

We aim to promote the health of economically disadvantaged and minoritized populations by combining community expertise with techniques from public health, city & regional planning, and climatology.

Research & Publications

What we’ve been up to

Select Research Projects or Publications:
  • Green Schoolyards Project

    Only about one-quarter of children in the United States are reaching recommended levels of physical activity for health and well-being. Furthermore, children are spending less time in nature than ever before, missing out on the physical, mental, and emotional health benefits of engaging with the natural world. Extreme heat may serve as a barrier to […]

  • Routes to Environmental Justice

    Encouraging walking and cycling to get to and from places is one strategy to promote children’s physical activity, a health behavior with wide-ranging benefits. Municipalities have made large investments in crossing guards, education, outreach, and infrastructure projects through Safe Routes to School programs to help ensure children can walk, bike, and roll safely to and […]

  • Climate Change and Pediatric Health in Eswatini

    Eswatini is a high-burden country for HIV and tuberculosis (TB) that has made remarkable progress in combatting both diseases in recent years. To sustain and expand upon Eswatini’s progress against HIV/TB, HEAT Lab member Dr. Anna Mandalakas at Baylor College of Medicine—in collaboration with UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, University of Eswatini, and Eswatini […]

All Research

Who we are

The HEAT Lab is a multidisciplinary team.

We have extensive experience conceptualizing, designing, and conducting community-engaged, mixed-methods research and disseminating results as evidence for action.

Heat Lab at the University of Texas Austin