Elisa Borowski, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the UC Irvine, received one of eleven prestigious Early-Career Faculty Support grants for Interdisciplinary Energy Systems Research from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to investigate how extreme heat intensifies energy and transportation hardship in rural California communities and how that knowledge can inform more equitable clean energy policies.

The two-year project, titled "Participatory Action for Resilient Energy-Transport Futures in Rural Communities," introduces the concept of Extreme Heat-Induced Double Energy Vulnerability, or EHI-DEV. The new framework captures the burden faced by households that simultaneously struggle to cool their homes, preserve food and medicine, and access essential destinations when temperatures rise. These pressures are especially felt in rural and peri-urban areas, where transit is limited and travel distances are long.

"Standard vulnerability measures often miss households who are suffering most, such as families who avoid using air conditioning to keep their bills down or who skip travel because it isn't affordable or safe," Borowski said. "This project centers lived experience in how we measure hardship, so that decarbonization investments are made to benefit those who need them most."

The community-based research will be conducted in the peri-rural Antelope Valley region of Los Angeles County, an area facing rising temperatures, structural mobility constraints and rapid renewable energy development. Working in partnership with Ohana Center Antelope Valley, a local nonprofit organization, Borowski will conduct focus groups and interviews with older adults, residents with mobility impairments or power-dependent medical needs and low-income households, followed by a survey of community residents. The interdisciplinary project’s academic advisory panel comprises Dominic Bednar, UCI assistant professor of urban planning and public policy, and Jesus Barajas, UC Davis professor of environmental science and policy. 

The project will produce an open-access EHI-DEV Index Toolkit, including a questionnaire and ethical use guide, along with a community-facing policy brief and a peer-reviewed manuscript.  

The $50,000 grant was awarded through the Sloan Foundation's Energy and Environment program, which supports innovative interdisciplinary social science research on the transition to a low-carbon economy. Borowski leads the REMIX (Research for Equitable Mobility Infrastructure Across Disciplines) lab at UCI, a Minority-, Hispanic-, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution. She is an affiliate of the UCI Institute of Transportation Studies and holds a courtesy appointment in urban planning and public policy.

  • Paul McQuiston