Joseph Karanja is a PhD student in geographic information science at Arizona State University in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning. Karanja received his masters in geosciences (geography) from Georgia State University. Karanja’s research interests focus on heat vulnerability, entailing the understanding of socioeconomic and biophysical drivers of heat vulnerability across multiple spatial and temporal scales, and the examination of associated heat-health outcomes. Additionally, Karanja investigates how different spatial analysis methods influence the determination of vulnerable populations and locations and their implications in policymaking. His research intersects key themes such as urban climate, biometeorology, scale, spatial statistics, and vulnerability science. Karanja is a member of the Board of Urban Environment of the American Meteorological Society. He is also a student member of the American Association of Geographers, the International Congress of Biometeorology, and the International Association of Urban Climate.