A graduate student discusses issues of sustainability, resilience

Paula Christina Viala, a graduate student at the University of Miami, was born and raised in Haiti. She came to the United States as a teenager and affectionately calls her country “my heart”.

Now that she is studying for a Master of Professional Science in Urban Sustainability and Resilience, she often thinks of her troubled homeland and wishes it to be “greener, more sustainable and inclusive”.

Viala says everyone should have a safe home, an environment that is habitable and free from the ravages of climate change, regardless of the circumstances. She is concerned about the lack of affordable housing in Miami and the people who find themselves living in affordable housing that does not comply with the code, as well as those who are vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

“I have always been interested in issues of sustainability and social justice,” she said. However, his career path has seen some twists and turns. Because she was good at math and science, Viala earned a civil engineering degree from Florida Atlantic University. Soon after graduation, she realized that her passion existed elsewhere.

“I decided to reorient my career,” she said, speaking of her journey into the innovative and interdisciplinary Master of Professional Science in Urban Sustainability and Resilience, a newly created program that attracts students from different disciplines and offers the two route options. Viala has selected the program’s resilience track.

In the program, she meets Sonia Chao, associate research professor at the School of Architecture and director of the Center for Urban and Community Design, who is particularly interested in her.

Viala took several courses with Chao and was his research assistant. And Viala is Chao’s teaching assistant this term.

“Paula embodies many of the qualities one would hope to find in a student,” said Chao. “She is intelligent, curious and engaged. Paula is passionate about working with communities to improve the quality of life for residents and businesses, whether through resilient design solutions, policy development or community engagement.

Recently, Viala was able to participate in all of the aforementioned activities during a spring course focused on the vision of a more resilient Nantucket in Massachusetts. Viala illustrated her commitment to her education, her classmates and to making a difference in the way her team presented her concepts by going beyond the course requirements to create an additional user-friendly brochure with residents in mind. . The presentation of the students on the island last June was exceptional, according to Chao.

“We hope that our interdisciplinary MPS program will increasingly prepare future climate leaders for the increasing tasks at hand,” said Chao. “Paula is on the way to be.”

The MPS program offers students three synthesis alternatives, including internships. Viala’s hard work has earned her a summer internship at the Miami-Dade County Resilience Office, where she learns about the many challenges a large county faces as the effects of climate change increase.

Susannah Troner oversees Viala as the Senior Resilience and Sustainability Coordinator in the Resilience Office.

“Ms. Viala is a bright and curious graduate student and intern with a very good background that allows her to understand the complexity of the challenges and opportunities associated with climate change,” explained Troner. “I appreciate the questions she asks her to answer. poses and her non-governmental perspective. The University of Miami has partnered with the County Resilience Office on many valuable projects. The UM Master Program sustainable development and urban resilience is another way of strengthening this collaboration. “

Viala’s latest project during the internship is to collect information to create an inventory of the county’s light fleet parking locations to start planning electric vehicle charging infrastructure installations. She also takes an inventory of all the county’s facilities. Thus, an assessment can be made of what it would take to maintain a fleet of electric cars, trucks and vans.

“The county wants to electrify its fleet of vehicles,” said Viala. “Cars generate COâ‚‚emissions resulting in warmer local temperatures and this heat continues in the atmosphere. Cars add to the county’s overall temperature during the day, ”she added. “The more electric vehicles there are on the road, the more you reduce the heat in the community. In addition, it is really important that the county leads by example.