Professor to design protective workwear for farmworkers

Cindy Cordoba, assistant professor of apparel and merchandising management at Cal Poly Pomona, has received a $398,926 state grant to support the creation of HeatShield garments, protective clothing designed specifically for agricultural workers exposed to extreme heat in Southern California.

The funding comes from the Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program (EHCRP), under the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. The project, which began on May 30 and will continue until December 2027, aims to co-design, produce, and distribute the first 100 HeatShield garments with direct involvement from farmworkers at every stage.

Agricultural workers face serious occupational health risks, being 35 times more likely to die from heat exposure than those in other fields. To address this, Cordoba is combining her knowledge in functional clothing design, sustainability, and textile waste management with her advocacy for farmworker welfare.

Working alongside co-principal investigator Dr. Helen Trejo and Cal Poly Pomona students, Cordoba will engage farmworkers through interviews in both Spanish and English. The team will also utilize 3D heat mapping, conduct textile lab tests, and analyze the collected data. Outreach activities, bilingual workshops, and educational resources will further support the community, and garment specifications will be made publicly available so other groups can replicate them at scale.