Profiles from the Peninsula is a series dedicated to spotlighting the partners who make up the Baja Working Group, and their projects. This week’s profile is on Dr. Kristen VanderMolen, Assistant Research Professor at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada where she conducts research on the human dimensions of climate change.
Puedes leer este blog en español aquí.
Profiles from the Peninsula is a series dedicated to spotlighting the partners who make up the Baja Working Group, and their projects. Each week, we will bring you a new profile in the form of a blog like this one. More information about the working group can be found here.
Dr. Kristin VanderMolen is an Assistant Research Professor at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada where she conducts research on the human dimensions of climate change. Specifically, Dr. VanderMolen is leading a project in Southern California and Northwestern Mexico—focusing on communities in Tijuana and Mexicali—that explores trends in extreme heat, heat-related illness and death, and public response to heat-related forecasts.
As she explains, “the impacts of extreme heat and heat waves on human health can be significant, but heat consistently ranks of little concern to the public in comparison to other climate-related hazards.” You can read more about Dr. VanderMolen’s extreme heat work in her case study perspective, Identifying opportunities and challenges for protecting against extreme heat in Southern California-Baja California border communities.
The Baja Working Group convenes local and international scientists, resource managers, conservation groups, educators, philanthropists, and other stakeholders to advance collaborative efforts that build resilience in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and in human communities. Learn more here.