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Extreme Heat Adaptation in Indigenous Communities Recap: Resources and Recordings Now Available!

  • CNNCTS
  • Aug 20
  • 4 min read

Over the past three months, in collaboration with CCEEJ, Great Basin Tribal Alliance at the Desert Research Institute, Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, Climate Science Alliance, and the Public Health Alliance of Southern California, the Collaborative of Native Nations for Climate Transformation and Stewardship (CNNCTS) held a three-part virtual panel series on Extreme Heat Adaptation in Indigenous Communities. Keep reading to learn more about the panel series and resources shared.

Graphic with desert landscape with sunset background. The title reads “Extreme Heat Adaptation in Indigenous communities”. The text in the middle reads “Panel series resources and recordings now available!”. Collaborators' logos are displayed at the bottom.

In collaboration with CCEEJ, Great Basin Tribal Alliance at the Desert Research Institute, Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, Climate Science Alliance, and the Public Health Alliance of Southern California, the Collaborative of Native Nations for Climate Transformation and Stewardship (CNNCTS) conducted a webinar series titled “Extreme Heat Adaptation in Indigenous Communities”. This three-part series focused on three levels of solution strategies: household, community, and regional. Each part of the series hosted a panel of experts with diverse knowledge and expertise on extreme heat mitigation strategies. 


Panel 1: Household-level Solutions


The first part of the series, household-level solutions, was held on May 13th, 2025 and facilitated by CNNCTS. Three panelists joined our session to discuss what actions participants can take as an individual to mitigate adverse health effects of extreme heat. Patrick Hurbain, an epidemiologist at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Nevada focused his presentation on understanding how heat can affect the body, specifically highlighting key differences between heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Hurbain also provided a step-by-step on what to do in the event of a heat stroke. Coline Bodenreider, Climate Change and Health Data Lead for the Public Health Alliance of Southern California, shared a demonstration of the California Healthy Places Index Extreme Heat Edition. This index is designed to assist in identifying neighborhoods and vulnerable populations that are most at-risk of exposure to extreme heat and provide access to resources that build heat resiliency. Lastly, Mansel Nelson, Program Manager for the Tribal Environmental Education Program at ITEP, presented on DIY indoor coolers and air filters methods, as well as a plethora of resources and instruction guides on how to build these at home. DIY coolers and air filters are an affordable and effective alternative to store-bought machines.


Flyer of resources for Part 1 of the series










View the webinar recording at: https://youtu.be/Xib2wEHzHaM?feature=shared   


Panel 2: Community-level Solutions


The second part of the series, community-level solutions, was held on June 17th, 2025 and was facilitated by partners at the Great Basin Tribal Alliance. This part in the series focused on mitigation strategies in Tribal and Indigenous communities. David Almanza, a post doctoral researcher with the Nevada Heat Lab, centered his presentation on how heat is framed in these communities. Almanza emphasized the importance in understanding how cultural narratives around heat can frame how we develop our adaptation strategies and improve community resilience to extreme heat. Heather Lafferty, Chief Resilience Officer at the Nevada Department of Emergency Management Services and Homeland Security, presented on several adaptation strategies as part of her overall message of the importance of developing community-specific extreme heat response plans. She reminded attendees that climate data in mainstream systems often fail to reflect Indigenous realities, and as such, community-based climate programs are effective solutions to bridge this gap. As part of her presentation, Lafferty also shared an extreme heat toolkit for Tribes. Catherine Foster and Kelly Meza Prado, Senior Adaptation and Resilience Planners at California Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI), presented an upcoming grant opportunity, the Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Grant program. This program aims to fund planning and implementation projects focused on reducing impacts of extreme heat and building community resilience. In their presentation, they outlined Tribal grantees that have been funded in the past, provided an overview of the grant program values and eligible activities, and provided a preliminary timeline for this opportunity, which is set to officially release September 2025.


Flyer of resources for Part 2 of the series










View the webinar recording at: https://youtu.be/EeJ_3qly-I4?feature=shared  


Panel 3: Regional-level Solutions


The third and final part of the series, regional-level solutions, was held on July 15th, 2025. Facilitated by CCEEJ, our final panel focused on tools and solutions across regions experiencing extreme heat. Ariel Choinard, Lead at the Nevada Heat Lab, discussed Southern Nevada’s response to extreme heat warnings and the importance of cooling centers. Crucial responses to extreme heat events included increasing outreach to unhoused communities and providing bus passes. Kimberly Palma-Ortega and Aaron Thacker at the Nevada Division of Emergency Management presented on the impact of heat on Tribal communities in Nevada and the adaptation strategies and solutions being put into practice to mitigate heat impact on Tribal communities. Some of these strategies include developing an extreme heat communications plan that will be shared in local languages, coordinating regional workshops and response plants, and collaborating with Tribal clinics to prepare for extreme heat events. Finally, we heard from Walker Wieland, CalHeatScore Program Manager at the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA). In his presentation, Wieland demonstrated the CalHeatScore tool designed to assist with planning, preparedness, and response to extreme heat in the California regions. It has a variety of capabilities such as showing heat warnings and rankings for every California county, rank severity of extreme heat events and potential impacts to peoples’ health, and more. 


Flyer of resources for part 3 of the series










View the webinar recording at: https://youtu.be/79BiDX91FbM?feature=shared  



Overall, the Extreme Heat Adaptation in Indigenous Communities created an open space for engaging conversations between community members and a variety of stakeholders working on extreme heat mitigation efforts. By focusing on adaptation across different levels, attendees and panelists alike learned more about what they can do as individuals, community members, and the larger collective.


Thank you to our collaborators CCEEJ, Great Basin Tribal Alliance at the Desert Research Institute, Climate Science Alliance, Public Health Alliance of Southern California, and the Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP), without whom this panel series would not have been possible. To our panelists, we extend our gratitude for their time and sharing their expertise. And to our attendees, thank you for engaging with us!


Want to see more events in this series-style format? Let us know! Email us at info@cnncts.org


Learn more about the Collaborative for Native Nations for Climate Transformation and Stewardship (CNNCTS) at cnncts.org.

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