Using Thermal Cameras to Innovate Photovoice in the College Classroom

Abstract

Photovoice, a participatory action research method, is used in public health research and classrooms as a tool to document lived experiences, community strengths, and personal values, as well as social, environmental, and public health issues. One growing public health issue, extreme heat, affects entire communities, including our students’ personal and professional lives. Extreme heat is the leading cause of meteorological hazard fatalities, especially among marginalized populations such as the elderly and unhoused. As climate change intensifies, public health students will increasingly feel the effects of extreme heat in their personal lives, and need to mitigate its consequences in the communities they serve. As a method to explore these themes in a classroom setting, we describe the process of implementing a photovoice project with the use of thermal (i.e., infrared) cameras in an undergraduate Environmental Health course. The assignment invites students to examine and share their personal experiences with heat-related risks and harm through the use of thermal cameras. Thermal cameras can help students “see” the surface heat of the built environment and are a natural fit for photovoice projects and classroom use. By leveraging this newly affordable technology, instructors can help students produce a variety of visualizations and associated narratives different from and complementary to traditional photovoice methods that rely on film cameras or smartphones.