Dr Peter CRANK

Research Fellow at Cooling Singapore

Peter J. Crank is an urban geographer and climatologist who received his PhD in Geography from Arizona State University (ASU). At ASU, Peter worked in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, the Urban Climate Research Center, the Design School, and the Health Urban Environments Initiative on various projects in the U.S. examining extreme heat and air quality impacts on the elderly, neighborhood planning and design, city park designs, and school renovations through field measurements, remotely sensed measurement via helicopter, and numerical modeling. Peter has a B.S. degree in broadcast meteorology (television) from Mississippi State University (MSU) before pursuing degrees in applied climate and geography at MSU (M.S.) and Ph.D. (ASU).

Research interests

Peter’s research seeks to address questions of modelling urban spaces to understand the impact urban climate mitigation strategies have on the thermal environment as well as on all facets of human health (from physical heat stress to psychological disorders). His work has spanned across several U.S. cities in the Sunbelt, including Jackson (MS), Houston (TX), Phoenix (AZ), and Los Angeles (CA).

Awards

  • Graduate College Completion Fellowship, Arizona State University, 2020.
  • Graduate Student Government Appreciation of Service Award, Arizona State University, 2020.
  • United Nations Climate Change Conference Student Delegate, Arizona State University, 2019.
  • Honorable Mention at ISSR Symposium, Arizona State University, 2019
  • Semi-Finalist, J. William Fulbright Scholarship Program, 2019.
  • Best Oral Presentation, ICUC10 and AMS, New York City, NY, 2018.
  • Multiple other research, service, and travel grants from Arizona State University, 2016-2021.
  • Charles L. Wax Endowed Scholarship, Mississippi State University, 2015.

Conferences

  • Crank, P.J. and Wright, M.K. and Middel, A. and Hondula, D.M. and Sailor, D.J. “Responding to Shade: Connecting Ecological and Social Landscapes to the Thermal Environments of Neighborhoods in Phoenix, Arizona”. American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting. January 11.
  • Crank, P.J. and Coseo, P. “Urban Landscapes and Mental Health: A commentary on approaches in urban planning and design for addressing urban mental wellbeing” 51st Environmental Design and Research Association Conference. April 2020.
  • Crank, P.J. and Hondula, D.M. and Sailor, D.J. “Mental Health and Heat: Risk and Mitigation in Arid and Urban Climates” Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society. January 2020.
  • Sailor, D.J. and Crank, P.J. and Heusinger, J. and Hara, M. “Extent vs Impact: A modelling study of Targeted Heat Mitigation Strategies” 5th International Conference on Countermeasures to Urban Heat Islands (IC2UHI). December 2019.
  • Crank, P.J. and Ko, J. and Ban-Weiss, G. and Sailor, D.J. “Evaluating Targeted Heat Mitigation Strategies for Low Income Neighborhoods in Los Angeles County” Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers. April 2019.
  • Crank, P.J. and Heusinger, J. and Sailor, D.J. “Feasibility Study on Integrating Public Transport Vehicles for Heat Mapping Purposes” 24th Conference on Applied Climatology at the American Meteorological Society Annual Conference. January 2019
  • Messerschmidt, M. and Crank, P.J. and Hondula, D.M. “Nature’s Cooling Systems: Modeling Neighborhood-Built Redevelopment and Greening” 24th Conference on Applied Climatology and the 10th Symposium on Environment and Health at the American Meteorological Society Annual Conference. January 2019.
  • Wilhelmi, O. and O’Lenick C. and Sailor, D.J. and Michael, R. and Hayden, M. and Baniassadi, A. and Monaghan, A. and Wiedinmyer, C. and Crank, P.J. “Extreme Heat and Ozone in Houston: Assessing and Reducing Health Risks” American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting. December 2018.
  • Crank, P.J. and O’Lenick, C. and Wilhelmi, O. and Sailor, D.J. “Behaviors and risk perceptions of elderly populations in the face of extreme heat and poor air quality — a comparison across three sunbelt cities”. International Conference for Urban Climate. August 2018.
  • Crank, P.J. and Sailor, D.J. and Ban-Weiss, G. “Simulating the Efficacy of Targeted Urban Heat Mitigation for Vulnerable Populations” 13th Symposium on the Urban Environment at the American Meteorological Society Annual Conference. January 2017.
  • Sailor, D.J. and Crank, P.J. “Spatial and Temporal Effects of Irrigation on Neighborhood-Scale Thermal Environments” 13th Symposium on the Urban Environment at the American Meteorological Society’s Annual Conference. January 2017.

Exhibition poster

  • Crank, P.J. and Middel, A. and Wagner, M. and Hoots, D. and Smith, M. and Brazel, A. “An Evaluation of Mean Radiant Temperature Estimations in an Arid Urban Climate” American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting. December 2018.

Publications

View Peter's list of publications on Orcid external pagehere.

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