Extreme heat—which includes temperatures of 40°C (104°F) or higher—is becoming increasingly frequent in Australia, and the effects on wildlife are clear as we enter the sixth mass extinction. Not only does climate change affect biodiversity, it also creates additional hardship for economically disadvantaged municipalities that lack the resources to deal with these issues. Yet, functional greenspaces and shaded areas are crucial to deal with extreme temperatures, allowing spaces for people and wildlife to escape the heat. In Melbourne, Victoria, Banksia Gardens Community Services is one of the few organizations attending to climate justice through their community-based work. Their Climate Adaptation Garden Initiative seeks to minimize the effects of extreme heat on people and wildlife, as well as to foster community engagement, pride and wellbeing. Our team was tasked with developing a process to automatically measure the impacts of their efforts to enhance biodiversity and decrease temperatures across six property gardens. To accomplish this goal, we created a network of custom-built heat sensors around the property to track temperature, a database that collects information on biodiversity and local temperatures , and multiple citizen science activities to ensure continued biodiversity data collection. The increased participation in citizen science and development of functional greenspaces will result in both a stronger environment and community in Broadmeadows. To find our videos and supplementary materials visit our website here:  https://sites.google.com/banksiagardens.org.au/heatbiodiversityaudit/home

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Bromberger, Lily
• Schuman, Eric
• Fanning, Stephen
• Vargas, Emmanuel

Subject

• Environment
• Well-Being
• Community
• Sustainability

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-030223-015130
• 90436

Keyword

• Citizen Science
• Climate Change
• Biodiversity
• Sensors
• Heat
• Raspberry Pi

Advisor

• Madan, Aarti Smith
• Madan, Ryan Smith

Year

• 2023

Center

• Melbourne, Australia Project Center - IQP

Sponsor

• Banksia Gardens Community Services

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 3 - Good Health and Well-being
• 10 - Reducing Inequality
• 13 - Climate Action

Date created

• 2023-03-02

Resource type

• Interactive Qualifying Project

Source

• E-project-030223-015130

Rights statement

• In Copyright

Last modified

• 2023-06-08