Extreme heat might not be the first thing you associate with Massachusetts, and yet it recently became just the second state in the U.S. to appoint a statewide officer dedicated to the tackling the issue.

Massachusetts’ first statewide heat resilience officer is Katie Schlick, who will lead coordination across state government and work with communities to prepare for rising temperatures, protect public health and reduce the impacts of extreme heat.

She brings extensive experience advancing climate resilience at the federal, state, and regional levels.

Most recently, she worked on federal and external affairs and led the resilience portfolio at the U.S. Climate Alliance and previously served as special assistant to the White House National Climate Advisor.

The position itself is being funded through support from the Boston Foundation.

Schlick said while Massachusetts is traditionally seen as a “cold state”, it has also seen temperatures increase by more than 3.5 degrees Celsius over the last 100 years, in an interview.

Schlick added Governor Maura Healey understands the science, the public health data, and the fundamental risk extreme heat is posing, both in different parts of the U.S, but also specifically in Massachusetts.

“With this role, Governor Healey is bringing a whole of government approach to meeting this challenge and uplifting our communities,” she told me.

Schlick said heat seasons in cities across the U.S. are becoming longer by a factor of between 30 and 40 days, with an increase in the number of emergency room visits whenever there is an extreme heat day.

She added one in five public schools in Massachusetts lack cooling infrastructure, which means extreme heat can impact student developing and learning.

There are also issues around how extreme heat impacts vital infrastructure around the state, including the electric grids which face increase loads during heatwaves.

And Schlick said action also needs to be taken to protect around 20% of the state’s workforce, who are regularly exposed to high temperatures, either through working outside or in workplaces without sufficient cooling or ventilation.

“We are going to be looking at all options available to us to see how we can protect folks on the hottest and smokiest of days,” she said.

And Schlick highlighted the work already being done by other states in this area, including Arizona, which she said has been leading the way with using public health data.

“The learning across states is really important when you’re tackling an issue like climate change, because it is hyper local,” she added.

“Even within Massachusetts, there’s are so many different parts of the state, whether it’s the coast or more rural areas, which are impacted very differently by extreme heat,”

“Massachusetts has led the way a lot on climate, whether it be with financing climate and resilience solutions, or the governor’s appointment of the first ever climate chief.

“Those are all pieces of the puzzle, and I think what we’ll be able to do here in Massachusetts will hopefully be a model for other, especially northern or more cold weather states.” Lou Leonard, the Dean of Clark University’s School of Climate, Environment and Society said there is a “mismatch” between the existing infrastructure in Massachusetts and the rising temperatures seen in the state, in an interview.

Leonard added there has also been an ongoing reduction in tree coverage across New England over many years, which has caused maximum summer temperatures to rise between 20% and 30% in some areas.

He told me the impacts of heat are not being felt equally across all the communities in the state too, with tree coverage in some low-income Worcester neighourhoods dropping from 40% to less than 10%.

And he said the extreme heat has also had a cascading effect in other areas, like schools having to close early because they do not have the necessary air conditioning.

“The impacts of climate change are undermining our natural cooling infrastructure,” said Leonard.

“And we are now dealing with a set of interactions where extreme heat is only part of the story. It has become the kind of risk we are not prepared for, which triggers other problems with housing, schooling and infrastructure.”

Leonard added researchers at Clark University have been looking the relationship between tree canopy and urban heat for 25 years and studying what kind of trees survive under hotter conditions.

And for the last 10 years, the university has partnered with the state’s department of recreation and conservation to improve tree canopy for lower income and vulnerable communities.

“Universities like Clark are rooted in the community and we can be arms and legs for state programs, like Massachusetts’ urban tree planting program," he added.