Year 11 student’s climate org hosts AI hackathon 

Last year, Allen founded climate change-focused non-profit One Degree Cooler, which recently hosted an AI hackathon that challenged students to come up with ideas to deal with the climate crisis. 

One Degree Cooler’s main push is to set up students with internships in companies concerned about sustainability. Allen says it has placed about 50 students.

“There are already organizations protesting and pushing for action,” Allen says. “What’s missing is a solutions-based approach to climate change, especially among youth. I thought green internships would allow youth to get engaged. Students are looking for internships and companies are looking for interns, and we are the middleman in that process.”    
  

According to NASA, Earth’s surface temperature last year was the warmest on record, and 1.5° C above the mid-19^th century average. Allen says the name One Degree Cooler speaks to the goal of “reducing the temperature one degree at a time to pre-industrial levels.”

His initial interest in climate change was personal. 

“I was learning about Alzheimer’s disease, which my grandfather had,” he explains. “I was researching it with Yale [School of Public Health] professor Dr. Xi Chen, and it turns out there’s a link between it and climate change.”

Chen convinced Allen to apply to speak on the subject at the Cop 28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai in December 2023, and he was ultimately accepted. 

“Around 60 million people in the world have [dementia], and they can’t speak for themselves, so I went there to represent that demographic and discuss how climate change has an impact,” Allen says. “I connected with people in the climate space, and after that I started One Degree Cooler.”

The organization partnered with the United Nations Association in Canada and several University of Toronto student clubs to put on the AI hackathon — dubbed GenAI Genesis — March 21–23 at U of T. (Despite the name, the “hackathon” had nothing to do with cybercrime.) 

The event offered information booths, keynotes by Allen and PwC Canada chief data scientist Vik Pant, and then the student attendees — 550 in person and 150 online from more than 20 countries — broke into groups for a marathon session of coding AI-driven climate-solution projects. After an exhausting 36 hours, the hackers presented their projects to the judges, of which Allen was one.     

“It was great to see all those projects,” Allen says. “We judged them on innovation, technical design and usefulness in the real world. We announced the winners at the closing ceremonies.” 

Allen is happy with the outcome, and says, “We’re hoping to expand and do more.” 

At UCC, he’s on the Sustainability Council. This year’s Earth Week activities will include a new farmers’ market, for which he’s bringing in farmers that have partnered with One Degree Cooler. 

Katherine Maloney, Upper School English and Theory of Knowledge teacher, knows Allen well in her role as faculty adviser for the Sustainability Council.  

“Lucas joined as soon as possible after coming to UCC, and he’s been really active within the council,” Maloney says. “I know I can always rely on him. He stands out with the seriousness with which he takes all of this, the level of commitment he has, and his passion for sustainability.” 

Allen’s efforts have thrust him in the spotlight, and how he comports himself has impressed John Sweetman, director of community service, clubs and the IB’s CAS program.  

“I’ve seen him on a number of news outlets,” Sweetman says. “He doesn’t seem flustered, and he’s just that good at putting his thoughts together. It speaks to how personally he takes this.”