With support from the Julia R. Brown Fund, MAS Climate Science and Policy student Aidaly Xicotencatl deployed heat sensors at two public schools in Southeast San Diego to measure how students experience extreme heat in classrooms and outdoor spaces. Working with partners at Groundwork San Diego and UC San Diego’s Center on Global Justice, she connected this research to climate education and schoolyard design efforts already underway in the community. The project strengthened Aidaly’s capstone research and deepened her commitment to advancing climate adaptation, health, and equity in school environments.
With support from the Julia R. Brown Fund, I was able to purchase and deploy heat sensors at Chollas‑Mead Elementary and Millennial Tech Middle, two public schools located in Southeast San Diego, to measure students’ daily exposure to extreme heat in classrooms and schoolyards.
Using HOBO temperature and humidity loggers, I collected data in cooler and warmer classrooms at each school, as well as in a common outdoor student area. At the same time, I worked with community partners at Groundwork San Diego and UCSD’s Center on Global Justice to integrate this monitoring into their existing climate‑education activities at EarthLab and the new “Nature Play” schoolyard project.
This experience directly strengthened my capstone research by giving me campus‑level evidence of how indoor and outdoor microclimates differ, even during a relatively cool, cloudy week. This project really deepened my understanding of climate impacts and adaptation at the school level. It pushed me to think that extreme heat is not only a weather issue but also a design and justice issue of who has shade and trees, who has air‑conditioned classrooms that actually work, and who is left with hot asphalt and under-maintained buildings.
Working alongside community educators at EarthLab, I saw how schoolyards can double as outdoor classrooms where kids learn to read heat maps and connect their own experiences on the playground to bigger questions about climate change and neighborhood investment. That connection between measurement, storytelling, and advocacy is something I don’t think I could have fully understood without this hands-on experience.
This opportunity also influenced how I think about my professional path. I came into this project interested in climate and health, but now I am much more focused on school environments as a key setting where adaptation and equity must come together. In the future, I want to work at the intersection of research, design, and community organizing, helping districts use simple, locally run measurements to guide modernization projects, green schoolyard conversions, and climate‑ready school policies.
Blog content and images provided by Aidaly Xicotencatl – thank you!