David Hondula is the Director of Heat Response and Mitigation for the City of Phoenix, Arizona. In that role, Hondula helps lead and coordinate programs that aim to protect people from dangerous summer heat and implement strategies to cool the city and make it more comfortable. Hondula joined the City in October 2021 to spearhead the nation’s first publicly-funded municipal Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, created as part of Phoenix’s $2.8M City Council-approved Climate and Heat Readiness Investment.

Hondula earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia in 2013, and he has been a faculty member at Arizona State University’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning since 2016. At ASU, he has served in leadership roles with the Urban Climate Research Center and Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research Program.  Hondula has co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed research articles, book chapters, and technical reports related to extreme heat, public health, and urban climatology, and currently serves as a chapter author for the 5^th United States National Climate Assessment.