Student Scientists Are Tracking Heat Risk For Their Peers

Students are helping with summer research to measure temperatures at Hawaiʻi’s K-12 schools and set guidelines to prevent heat-related illness.

A few weeks ago, Abner Young and Nicholas Chi, both 16, braved the afternoon sun to install two distinct instruments on long black stands on the grassy grounds of Punahou School — one short and squat with a big round bulb at the top, the other sleek and black with a top like a short wand.

The sun warmed the two curious-looking objects, known as wet-bulb thermometers, and numbers started to blink across Chi and Young’s digital screens.

As global temperatures rise, a local coalition of health professionals is working with Young, Chi and a host of other high school students across Hawaiʻi to gather data that could lead the way to protecting the isl