How Heat Affects Us: Community Screening & Conversation
- texuslab8
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Heat kills more people than any other extreme weather event. To address this growing crisis, the UT–City CoLab at the Jackson School of Geoscience and Planet Texas 2050 has been advancing innovative initiatives around heat resilience.
One highlight was the partnership with Tapi Studios and GAVA to host the inaugural screening of the short film Una Nave Frágil (A Fragile Vessel), followed by a dynamic community conversation on extreme heat. The discussion explored how mapping, satellite data, and climate models can help cities and communities better understand and prepare for heat events.
The film itself emerged from conversations between community members, academics, faculty, students, and city staff. It follows the story of one Austin family during the record-breaking heat of summer 2023, capturing intergenerational perspectives on living through extreme weather events.
The screening, held at Dottiewood Studios in North Austin, blended art, science, and community engagement to create an immersive evening for attendees. The CoLab helped run the art room where participants reflected creatively on heat through prompts like “How would you describe heat to an alien?” and the science room where the TEXUS lab team presented neighborhood heat maps, including the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), to illustrate how heat is experienced differently across Austin, from Westlake Highlands to Dove Springs, Montopolis, and Rundberg.
The Una Nave Frágil screening demonstrated the power of combining storytelling, art, and science to uplift community voices and foster meaningful conversations about climate resilience.
This work builds on our broader efforts to tackle extreme heats through project funded by #NASA and #NIST where we utilize satellite data to inform solutions like planting trees.
