{"id":14153,"date":"2020-07-14T19:47:41","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T19:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2020\/07\/14\/student-researchers-learn-how-trees-keep-things-cool-in-massachusetts-cities\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T09:49:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:49:43","slug":"student-researchers-learn-how-trees-keep-things-cool-in-massachusetts-cities","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2020\/07\/14\/student-researchers-learn-how-trees-keep-things-cool-in-massachusetts-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"Student researchers learn how trees keep things cool in Massachusetts cities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

HERO fellows examine temperature data in Holyoke, Fall River, and Chelsea<\/p>\n

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Each summer for the past five years, Clark University’s HERO (Human-Environment Regional Observatory)<\/a> Program has partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Greening the Gateway Cities Program<\/a> to research the effects of tree-planting initiatives in urban residential areas throughout the state.<\/p>\n

After the COVID-19 pandemic closed campus in mid-March, Geography Professor John Rogan, who oversees the program with Professor Deborah Martin, knew the team of 2020 HERO Fellows would have to take a different approach to this year’s research. Instead of doing traditional fieldwork, the group worked remotely to analyze land-use and temperature sensor data from three gateway cities — Holyoke, Fall River, and Chelsea — to find out whether the Greening the Gateway Cities Program is meeting its goal of reducing household energy use by increasing tree canopy cover in those areas.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the group presented its findings to local and state leaders during a virtual Stakeholder Summit.<\/p>\n

“It’s day and night between what the students did last year<\/a> and what they did this year, but it’s all for the same cause,” Rogan says. “It’s about understanding the benefits of trees that are planted in urban areas in the context of regional temperature increases and environmental justice concerns.”<\/p>\n

This year’s HERO Fellows — Valeria Chavez ’21, Anna Massinger ’22, Alvaro Esparza ’21, Galen Oettel ’21, and Will Sanders ’21 — spent the last eight weeks analyzing land-use and temperature sensor data from Holyoke, Fall River, and Chelsea. The data, which begins in 2017, revealed that the cities’ residential sites with 20 or more trees planted nearby showed cooling effects over time. In those areas, sensors showed the most cooling effect during peak energy load hours (4 to 7 p.m.) in July and August, when residents are most vulnerable to extreme heat.<\/p>\n

\"Chelsea
A heat map of Chelsea showing temperatures in the summer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The students found a significant correlation between number of trees planted and cooler temperatures in Holyoke, with a cooling response of 0.07°C per tree planted, but produced inconclusive associations in Chelsea and Fall River.<\/p>\n

“We were excited that temperature sensors were concentrated in residential areas because we wanted to know how community members in low-income areas like gateway cities are affected by a lack of urban canopy cover at home,” Sanders told stakeholders. “They shoulder the burden of high energy costs and will limit air conditioner use in order to pay for other expenses. This can cause heat-related health complications and exacerbate preexisting conditions.”<\/p>\n

The team hypothesized that changes in elevation, heavy mixed land use, and clustering of sensors all added complexity to the landscape in Fall River, while Chelsea’s consistently hotter temperatures — which are likely due to the city’s relatively low amount of vegetation cover — have made it difficult for recently planted trees to create a cooling effect there yet.<\/p>\n

“We keep coming back to the conclusion that trees need to grow, trees take time to grow, and they work on their own schedule,” says Mathew Cahill, director of the Greening the Gateway Cities Program. “It’s really great to see this baseline, to start somewhere and begin to see hints of what we’re expecting.”<\/p>\n

Story continues after video<\/em><\/p>\n