Empowering Local Youth To Become Community Scientists

November 2025

In partnership with Greenbelt Alliance and Latino Service Providers, Second Nature Ecologist Cesar Estien recently led a hands-on workshop empowering local youth to become community scientists. The day focused on understanding extreme heat in their own neighborhoods. We examined data to see how environmental features—like tree canopy versus paved surfaces—can create temperature hotspots. This sparked a great discussion about the specific drivers of heat the youth have noticed in their own community. The event was featured in the local climate resilience magazine Kneedeep Times.

The workshop included a field component with the youth going out with sensors to collect their own temperature data from different local areas, comparing ambient temperature to land surface temperature. When they returned, we compared their data to the concepts we discussed, and each individual was sent home with a monitor to investigate heat at their home. The team will come together in a few weeks to discuss how the temperatures relate to the local ecology of their neighborhood, and begin to consider potential solutions for the neighborhood’s extreme heat action plan. The  workshop was an outstanding opportunity to make climate science tangible and highlight how community-gathered data is a critical first step in building a more resilient future.