As Buffalo continues to experience more heat waves during the summer months, D’Youville University is taking proactive steps to protect its campus and the surrounding community.
On Tuesday, university administrators and staff participated in a campus-wide heat preparedness session, raising awareness of heat-related health risks and how to recognize heat illness, while also strengthening the university’s ability to support students during extreme heat like we've seen this month in Western New York.
Kacey Stewart, Program Director of D’Youville's Master of Science in Health, Wellness, and Climate Administration, believes that as climate change occurs, education and awareness should improve as well.
"People in Buffalo are really concerned about snow, right? We love to talk about how big our plows are and how much we salt our roads, but we might be surprised to learn how different our future of heat is going to look." Stewart said. "A lot of people think, oh well, climate change, it will be warmer. When in fact, we don't have the infrastructure. We don't have the mentality that's ready to handle the heat."
That's where events like this come in, educating the community and spreading awareness and practical life application. Stewart said there was an average of zero days per year in Buffalo above 90 degrees — a figure now expected to rise to 14 days annually in the next 30 years due to climate change.
"Our climate is breaking down," he said. "Greenhouse gas emissions have not slowed to the level that they need to, and what happens is those greenhouse gases trap heat within our atmosphere, and that raises the temperature. So once the heat comes in, it can't get out."
According to the school's website, the Master of Science in Health, Wellness, and Climate Administration program, which was introduced in 2025, brings together public health and sustainability to produce experts who are ready to work collaboratively across sectors to improve the health of humans and the planet they live on.
D’Youville hosts educational events two times a year. The next one is in six months on fire safety.
