29 January 2026, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. CT, Room 335AB, Hilton Americas-Houston

This invite-only event will be hosted by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) 106 Annual Meeting Local Organizing Committee.

The workshop is designed to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to address the complex issues surrounding extreme heat. Lance Wood, meteorologist - Harris County Flood Control District, will moderate the following panel of experts representing all aspects of heat challenges:

• Kevin Kloesel - Chief Science officer at Zelus, Event Safety Meteorologist, Department of Athletics, Baylor University Board of Directors, Event Safety Alliance Former Director, Oklahoma Climate Survey Co-Author, Fourth National Climate Assessment (USGCRP). 
• Loren Hopkins - Professor in the Practice of Statistics, Rice University, Chief Environmental Science Officer and Bureau Chief, Data Science Division, Houston Health Department 
• Leah Barton - Harris county - Executive Director of Public Health 
• Jaime Gonzalez - Executive Director of the Institute of Ecological Resilience - UH 

The discussion will focus on the following topics:

• Measuring heat and its various metrics
• Assessing community and individual risk
• Messaging and public communication strategies
• Understanding the impacts on health, infrastructure, and the economy
• Enhancing community preparedness and resilience
• Mitigating or designing efforts
• In addition to the panel discussion, the workshop will include valuable breakout and networking sessions, providing an opportunity for collaboration and sharing of ideas.

This is an invite-only event, but if you are interested to learn more about the community gathering, please reach out to Lance Wood (lance.wood@hcfcd.hctx.net). 

AMS worked with the Local Organizing Committee to create an informational pamphlet about heat risk for use by educators and the general public.

Download PDF   Descargar folleto en español (PDF)

Panelists

Dr. Kevin Kloesel

Kevin has 40 years' experience as a professional meteorologist, with the most recent 25 years as an expert in weather observations and event forecasting, having developed weather preparedness protocols, safety plans and spot forecasts for over 4,000 outdoor events. He has developed and led high-impact weather safety training for numerous educational institutions, emergency managers, national sports associations and operators of large indoor and outdoor entertainment venues. He also serves on the Health and Wellness captions of multiple touring world class corps for Drum Corps International (DCI), as well as a forecaster for the summer DCI tour, where he specializes in taking sensitive weather observations for music and athletic performance, including wind speed and direction, heat and humidity, and rain and lightning. During the past decade, Kevin served as Director of the Oklahoma Climate Survey, co-chaired the Oklahoma Mesonet Steering Committee and was a co-author of the Fourth US National Climate Assessment before retiring in 2024.

Kevin currently serves as a subject matter expert for the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security, is the Education and Engagement Commissioner for the American Meteorological Society, and is on the Board of Directors for the Event Safety Alliance. He led the teams that won the Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard University and the Ford Foundation for their work with the emergency management community in Oklahoma, as well as receiving Mesonet team awards from the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. 

Kevin was individually awarded the American Meteorological Society's Charles E. Anderson Award for "over two decades of dedication to engaging minority and underrepresented groups through community outreach and academic leadership" and was awarded the 2025 National Weather Association Larry R. Johnson Special Award "for significant contributions made in the fields of operational meteorology and event safety through example, education and mentorship."

Loren Hopkins, PhD

Loren Hopkins, PhD, has dual appointments: one at the City of Houston Health Department where she serves as the Chief Environmental Science Officer and leads the Data Science team; and the other at Rice University where she is a Professor in the Practice of Statistics in the Department of Statistics. Her research crosses boundaries and requires close partnerships with a variety of sectors in the City of Houston, with a focus on statistical assessment, environmental science, health disparities, and the need for collaborations across these domains. By applying her understanding of environmental processes, statistical analysis, human health risk from pollution exposure and climate events, disease data, and the principles of public health intervention, she evaluates health disparities in Houston, the role environmental pollution and climate change plays, and the impacts of public health interventions and policies to improve community health. 

Dr. Hopkins regularly conducts internal monitoring and statistically rigorous reporting using syndromic surveillance data to ensure timely notification to City leadership regarding critical environmental, climate, and health-related concerns. In the summer of 2025, Dr. Hopkins spearheaded efforts to develop a publicly-available Summer Surveillance dashboard that tracks heat-related illness along with other conditions exacerbated by heat. She and her team further analyzed historical emergency department visit data in Houston to understand the increases in risk of these heat-caused and heat-triggered conditions on days of high heat. This initiative formed the foundation for a community heat-health alert system that sends warning messages to registered users of increased health risk of various conditions on days of high heat, with links to further information and resources. These innovative efforts serve to ensure that Houstonians have more tools and information to help them combat the extreme heat and climate events in Houston.

Leah Barton:

In August 2025, Leah Barton was appointed Executive Director for Harris County Public Health (HCPH), following her year of distinguished service as Interim Executive Director.

During her time in the interim role, HCPH increased healthcare access through mobile health expansion and the opening of the Sheldon Health Hub, brought the HART alternative first responder program in-house, and earned national recognition for chronic disease prevention efforts. Under her leadership HCPH has created new partnerships strengthening disease surveillance, opened the RISE Empowerment Center for violence prevention, and applied for PHAB reaccreditation. Leah leads the Department with a vision of building a healthier, more connected, resilient community, bringing together community members, partners, and HCPH in support of improved public health outcomes. 

Prior to joining HCPH, Leah served as Harris County Deputy County Administrator and as Managing Director of the Office of County Administration's Grants and Partnerships Division, overseeing the administration of $1B of COVID recovery funds made available through the American Rescue Plan Act. She also incubated cross-departmental functions including the Office of Early Childhood and homelessness response strategies. 

Leah's distinguished career spans nearly 20 years in the energy sector, serving in commercial, IT, finance, marketing, and operations leadership roles at Centrica plc/Direct Energy, MXenergy, Shell Chemical LP, and Nuvera Fuel Cells. Collectively, her achievements include leading divisional turnarounds, driving growth, and establishing effective performance management systems. Leah began her career as a US Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania and speaks Spanish and Swahili. 

Leah's commitment to community leadership is exemplified by her active involvement in various organizations and recognition as a "Woman Who Means Business in Energy" by the Houston Business Journal. She currently serves as Director of St. Paul's United Methodist Foundation, as Advisory Board Member for ProUnitas, as Director of Amazing Place, and is an American Leadership Forum Senior Fellow. She previously served as a Board Member of Child Advocates, Advisory Board Member of the UH Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and President of the UH Friends of Women's Studies. As part of her commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace environment, Leah sponsored the LGBTQ+ employee resource group at Direct Energy. She was the founding board chair of EMERGE, a college access organization now serving thousands of students and graduates across the Houston region. 

Leah earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Yale, a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School, and a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jaime González, M.Ed.

Jaime González is the Founding Executive Director of the University of Houston's Institute for Ecological Resilience (IER), where he leads at team to activate strategies, partnerships, and fundraising efforts to advance research and community engagement around nature-based solutions. Through IER, he and his team works to bridge academia, policy, and practice to foster ecological resilience, public health, and environmental justice across the Greater Houston region and beyond.

With over 27 years of experience in conservation, One Health action, and urban greening, Mr. González is nationally recognized for building multi-sector coalitions that deliver tangible environmental and social benefits and as a keynote speaker.

He also served as Board Chair of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), as a Climate Adaptation and Justice Advisor to the City of Houston and Harris County, and as a Community Fellow with the Rice University Center for Environmental Studies. Previously, he held leadership and programmatic roles with The Nature Conservancy, The Student Conservation Association, the Coastal Prairie Conservancy, and the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center.

Mr. González holds an M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction–Science Education and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Houston, along with professional certificates from Cornell, Duke, Yale, and the University of Alaska–Fairbanks.