Hot Zones: Implementing Resilience Hubs (i.e. Cooling Centers) to Combat Extreme Heat in Boynton Beach

About the Community

Boynton Beach is a coastal community in Southeast Florida and the 3rd largest city in Palm Beach County. Despite the large population, they have some of the lowest average income, lowest tree canopy cover (which limits natural cooling), and a history of segregation. At the same time, rising risk of extreme events (e.g. extreme heat, flooding) has outpaced the aging infrastructure. To address these challenges, the city has launched a “Resilient Boynton” initiative to build an adaptation plan. Boynton has recently been granted a $100,000 climate smart communities initiative (CSCI) grant to specifically combat extreme heat through urban heating or cooling center initiatives. Alannah Irwin, the city’s  Sustainability & Resiliency Administrator and resiliency team leader, will help integrate this project into city planning. Ricky Petty, Project Director for Healthier Boynton Beach, will provide invaluable insights into the community needs and priorities. Together both Alannah and Ricky, the project community leads will ensure that resilient plans are feasible, equitable, and community driven.

About the Project

Boynton Beach, Florida, is increasingly affected by extreme heat, yet lacks sufficient infrastructure to protect its most vulnerable residents. This project will identify the best placement, design, and implementation strategy for community cooling centers to serve populations most at risk. Working with the City of Boynton Beach’s Resilient Boynton Initiative and nonprofit Healthier Boynton Beach, the project will use LiDAR-derived tree-canopy data, weather station records, city infrastructure inventories, and socioeconomic datasets to inform a city-wide heat resilience plan.

Over approximately 12–18 months, volunteer scientists will collaborate with local partners to

1. Understand where to put cooling centers. This will look at both areas of highest heat exposure and also the highest risk populations all while considering socio-economic factors. The project will also explore early warning detection systems, understanding whether heat advisories or other triggers should prompt opening.
2. Understand how the city can use its existing infrastructure to create cooling centers. This will include evaluating existing city-owned buildings and recreational facilities for potential cooling-center upgrades.
3. Understanding what are the best characteristics of cooling centers. This will assess key accessibility factors such as transportation, neighborhood demographics, and social vulnerability indicators.
4. Understand what alternatives may exist outside of cooling centers.

The final deliverable will be a Cooling Center Siting and Implementation Assessment, including data-driven maps, recommended priority sites, and a set of infrastructure and programming guidelines for future resilience hubs. The assessment will directly feed into Boynton Beach’s forthcoming Urban Heat Resilience Strategy, supporting both mitigation (e.g., tree-canopy expansion) and adaptation (e.g., emergency cooling capacity) goals.

By centering equity and co-developing solutions with local organizations, this project will help ensure that climate resilience investments reach neighborhoods historically underserved by infrastructure improvements. The approach can also serve as a model for other coastal Florida cities facing rising temperatures and social inequities. 

Timeline and Milestones 

• Oct 2025 – Nov 2025: Finalize project scope, goals, and deliverables with City of Boynton Beach and Healthier Boynton Beach.
• Dec 2025 – Jan 2026  Recruit and onboard project scientists.
• Jan 2026: Conduct a survey of community needs working with community leads.
• Feb 2025 – Mar 2026: Gather and organize available datasets (LiDAR canopy, weather, socioeconomic, and building data). Develop a shared data repository and mapping framework. Share methodological framework with the city and broader communities to get feedback.
• Mar 2026 – Jun 2026: Conduct heat-vulnerability and accessibility mapping. Evaluate potential cooling-center sites based on infrastructure, transportation, and equity indicators.
• Jul 2026- Aug 2026: Share preliminary findings with city staff and community partners for feedback.
• Sep 2026 – Dec 2026: Implement any changes and additions that come out of the preliminary findings. Share the second round of findings with the city.
• Jan 2026 – Mar 2027: Create final assessment report and shareouts to the community. Potentially host an information session with the community..
• Apr 2027: Document all work and wrap up project!

Community Leaders

Alannah Irwin is a dedicated sustainability and climate resilience professional with over a decade of experience in environmental management, specializing in air quality, climate adaptation, and waste minimization. She has a background in public administration, working specifically in regulatory compliance, environmental policy, and atmospheric science, and is committed to advancing public health and environmental conservation. Alannah has a strong track record in managing complex environmental projects, building strategic partnerships, and leading community engagement initiatives to promote sustainability and climate resilience. She holds a Master of Science in Geosciences with a concentration in Applied Meteorology, a Bachelor of Science in Geosciences with a focus on Atmospheric Sciences, and a Graduate Certificate in Natural Resource Policy and Administration.

Ricky L. Petty, Sr. is a community leader, entrepreneur, and philanthropist with over 20 years of experience in nonprofit and social services. He serves as Project Director of the Palm Health Foundation’s Healthier Boynton Beach initiative under Pathways to Prosperity. He is the owner of several businesses, including Petty Capital Realty and Petty Investments Inc. Passionate about mentoring and service, Ricky is committed to empowering caregivers, youth, and families while building stronger, healthier communities.

Community Science Fellow

Lisa Nguyen is an Applied Physics PhD student at the University of Michigan, focusing on the impacts of global warming on drought and precipitation extremes, with a particular interest in how these changes affect crops and vulnerable communities. In addition to their research, Lisa is passionate about educational outreach, having taught students through Math Corps (a program started in Detroit’s Wayne State University) and mentored youth through the FATE Give Merit program.

Scientist Role

The project team is seeking two volunteer scientists to collaborate with the City of Boynton Beach and the nonprofit, Healthier Boynton Beach, on developing a data-informed cooling center and urban heat resilience strategy. The scientist(s) will work closely with multiple city departments to integrate LiDAR tree canopy, weather, building, and socioeconomic data into actionable recommendations for cooling center sites, urban reforestation guidelines,  and infrastructure upgrades. The results will directly inform the city’s Urban Heat Resilience Strategy, ensuring that adaptation actions reach communities most affected by extreme heat.

(Scientist 1) Climate, Health, and Equity Analyst: This role will use citywide tree canopy LiDAR, historical weather conditions, and socioeconomic data to calculate the risk associated with heatwaves. Working with the second Thriving Earth Exchange scientist, they will develop a recommended resilience strategy. This work is at the intersection of climate adaptation, public health, and environmental justice.

Desired Skills and Qualifications:

• Experience with heat vulnerability, public  health, or climate risk

• Proficiency in spatial data analysis (e.g., GIS, LiDAR, or remote sensing) and/or integrating socioeconomic or demographic datasets (e.g., HUD)

(Scientist 2) Urban Infrastructure Specialist: This role will investigate the existing community facilities of Boynton to assess the feasibility of any plan given the infrastructure. They will work with the other scientist to co-develop a resiliency strategy.

Desired Skills and Qualifications:

• Experience with building efficiency, design, and energy demands

• Knowledge of cooling systems, green design, or nature-based solutions

Joint Desired Skills and Qualification:

• Interest in or experience with environmental justice and equitable infrastructure

• • Strong listening, collaboration and communication skills,
  • Ability to translate technical findings for non-technical audiences

• Enthusiasm for community engagement

• Comfortable working in a multi-disciplinary, volunteer-based team

This collaborative, community-driven effort may also lead to a peer-reviewed publication or a case study highlighting data-driven approaches to equitable climate adaptation. Engagement will occur primarily through biweekly virtual meetings over 12–15 months, with flexibility for remote participation.

Thriving Earth Exchange asks all scientific partners to work with the community to help define a project with concrete local impact to which they can contribute as pro-bono volunteers and collaborators. This work can also position the scientists and communities to seek additional funding, together, for the next stage. Unsure if you’re the right fit for this project? Reach out to us via email at [email protected] to learn more.  

Interested in volunteering as a scientist? Apply now!