Mariana Boldu is currently the Director of Resilience Design at Curtis + Rogers Design Studio, a well-established local landscape architecture practice that provides quality award-winning landscape architectural services throughout South Florida. She brings to the firm her experience as a sharp designer and an effective team builder with over 20 years of international practice. She leads design and integrates landscape strategies that are sustainable, resilient, that balance the built and natural environment, and the community’s needs while responding to the pressing dynamics of climate change. Her collaborative leadership style and outcome-oriented management experience have resulted in a vast portfolio that demonstrates the excellence of design, leadership and true interdisciplinary collaboration.

Her unique triple background in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design, along with her rich and extensive educational and professional experience, has allowed her to contribute locally to a wide range of project types and scales, from planning through construction.

Mariana is a Registered Landscape Architect in Florida and Colorado, a Registered Architect in Argentina, a LEED Accredited Professional and a Member of the ASLA community (American Society of Landscape Architects). She received her professional graduate degree in Architecture at UCC, Cordoba, Argentina. She completed her MLA at the State University of New York (SUNY-ESF), and doctoral courses in “Sustainable Design” at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), Barcelona, Spain.

Dr. Patrick Rynne is a marine scientist, ocean engineer and science outreach specialist. He completed his undergraduate education in Material Engineering from Brown University, earned a Master of Science degree in Ocean Engineering from Florida Atlantic University, and a Ph.D in Applied Marine Physics from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. His research interests include the hydrodynamics of near-shore and riverine systems including tidal inlets, bays, and estuaries and their role in maintaining healthy water quality and ecology. Towards this goal he is also engaged in developing engineering solutions that facilitate the fieldwork efforts in these environments. Throughout his career as a scientist, Dr. Rynne recognized the challenge of communicating complex research findings to the general public and the growing need for effective outreach strategies. In 2011 he founded Waterlust (waterlust.com), a Miami-based company that specializes in the creative communication of ocean science topics through online film, photography, and advocate apparel. He currently serves as Waterlust’s CEO & Creative Director.

Reinaldo Borges is the Founder and Principal of Borges + Associates Architects, a leading design and architecture firm headquartered in Miami, Florida. Throughout his 25+ year career, Borges has put his stamp on iconic developments throughout Southern Florida and the Middle East. Over the course of 12 years in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, he designed luxury hotels, mixed-use complexes, and office centers. He has led teams for the American Airlines Arena, one of the first sporting arenas to receive LEED Green Building Certification, the Royal Palm Hotel, Carillon Hotel, Park Central Hotel and the Infinity at Brickell Tower, and the Grand Beach Hotel, amongst others. As the Chairman of the Sea Level Rise Task Force at the AIA Miami, Borges has devoted significant energy towards resilient and “future-proof” building practices. Not simply a designer and architect, sustainability and resiliency are at the heart of each of Reinaldo Borges’ internationally-acclaimed projects. An active member of the Urban Land Institute, American Institute of Architects, and the U.S. Green Building Council, he is also the Pillar Board Chair at the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce where he is also a member of their Executive Board of Governors. Additionally, Borges is a member of the City of Miami Commission appointed SLR Committee. Building upon his illustrious body of work within Miami, Borges has become a leading voice on the topic of sea level rise and how it will affect future development, through which he has devised key strategies for resiliency and future-proofing cities like Miami from the effects of climate change. Borges was recently awarded the 2016 Architect of the Year Award by the AIA Miami and featured in Season 2 of YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY documentary series on the effects of Climate Change with Jack Black and Re-Insurance executives on the topic of Sea Level Rise, Coastal Risks and innovative thinking.

Dr. Frances Colón is the CEO of Jasperi Consulting, a boutique firm that provides science, environment and technology policy advice to higher education institutions as well as state and national-level policy-makers. She is a 2018 New Voices Fellow of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and the former Deputy Science and Technology Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State (2012-2017). As a science diplomat in Washington D.C., Dr. Colón led the re-engagement of scientific collaboration with Cuba and coordinated climate change policy for the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas announced by President Obama. Dr. Colón is the founder of Cenadores Puerto Rico, a non-profit platform that facilitates collaboration between the Puerto Rican diaspora and civil society on the Island. In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, Cenadores became a go-to for connecting experts, donors and policy-makers assisting Puerto Rico. In 2016, Dr. Colón was named one of the 20 most influential Latinos in technology by CNET and was a 2015-2016 Google Science Fair judge. Dr. Colón earned her Ph.D. in Neuroscience in 2004 from Brandeis University and her B.S. in Biology in 1997 from the University of Puerto Rico.

Dr. Amy Clement earned her Bachelors degree in Physics from Columbia College, and Ph.D. from the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, both at Columbia University in New York. She did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris, France, and has been a faculty member at the Rosenstiel School since 2001. Clement studies the causes of climate change on all timescales, from glacial period to future climate change. She does this using observational data and climate models. Using experiments from a set of models with varying complexities allows Clement to deconstruct the mechanisms of climate change and understand their basic processes. Her most recent work has focused on Atlantic climate variability and predictability, including sea level rise and changes in extreme heat and rainfall. While her research expertise and main teaching and mentoring is in the physical aspects of climate, Dr. Clement has developed multi-disciplinary curricula on ‘Climate and Society,’ and has co-taught a graduate course on this topic since 2002. Clement has also been involved in local discussions and actions related to climate change through her role as Chair of Parks and Public Spaces in Grove 2030, and as a member of the Board of Directors of Miami Waterkeeper.

Reinaldo Borges is the Founder and Principal of Borges + Associates Architects, a leading design and architecture firm headquartered in Miami, Florida. Throughout his 25+ year career, Borges has put his stamp on iconic developments throughout Southern Florida and the Middle East. Over the course of 12 years in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, he designed luxury hotels, mixed-use complexes, and office centers. He has led teams for the American Airlines Arena, one of the first sporting arenas to receive LEED Green Building Certification, the Royal Palm Hotel, Carillon Hotel, Park Central Hotel and the Infinity at Brickell Tower, and the Grand Beach Hotel, amongst others. As the Chairman of the Sea Level Rise Task Force at the AIA Miami, Borges has devoted significant energy towards resilient and “future-proof” building practices. Not simply a designer and architect, sustainability and resiliency are at the heart of each of Reinaldo Borges’ internationally-acclaimed projects. An active member of the Urban Land Institute, American Institute of Architects, and the U.S. Green Building Council, he is also the Pillar Board Chair at the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce where he is also a member of their Executive Board of Governors. Additionally, Borges is a member of the City of Miami Commission appointed SLR Committee. Building upon his illustrious body of work within Miami, Borges has become a leading voice on the topic of sea level rise and how it will affect future development, through which he has devised key strategies for resiliency and future-proofing cities like Miami from the effects of climate change. Borges was recently awarded the 2016 Architect of the Year Award by the AIA Miami and featured in Season 2 of YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY documentary series on the effects of Climate Change with Jack Black and Re-Insurance executives on the topic of Sea Level Rise, Coastal Risks and innovative thinking.

Pete Gomez is a highly motivated and enthusiastic Fire Service professional with a specialty in the field of Emergency Management. With over 32 years of experience in every aspect of the Fire Service. Pete brings a very well rounded perspective and wealth of experience to any organization. He is a dynamic leader with excellent people skills that allows him to work closely with all disciplines as well as the private sector and non-governmental organizations.

Pete joined the public sector as a Police Officer in the City of Hialeah in 1983 and worked there until 1985 when he joined the Miami Fire Department. As a member of the Miami Fire Department, he’s been very proactive in becoming certified in many of the special response areas such as the Dive Team, Hazardous Materials Team, and the Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR). Pete has held the ranks of Lieutenant, Captain, Executive Assistant to the Fire Chief and currently holds the rank of Assistant Chief of the Division of Emergency Management, with the responsibility of being the City’s Emergency Manager. As the Assistant Chief of Emergency Management, Pete is the administrator of the Department of Homeland Security’s Urbans Area Security Imitative (UASI) which brings millions of dollars into the South Florida region for the purpose of Homeland Security. The Urban Search and Rescue Team is one of the 28 Federally funded Teams that responds to disasters nationally as well as internationally such as the World Trade Center collapse and the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Pete received an Associate of Arts degree from Miami Dade Community College and his Bachelor’s degree from St. Thomas University in Fire Science Management and his Master’s Degree in Emergency and Disaster Preparedness from American Military University. Being married to his wife Denise of 29 years, Pete has a 24 year old son that is a recent graduate of Florida State University and a 21 year old daughter in her Senior year at FSU.

Kilan Bishop is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Miami, where she is completing her dissertation research studying genetic factors that influence triple negative breast cancer development and progression. Kilan has over eight years of biomedical research experience and has been awarded three federally funded fellowships dedicated to increasing diversity in the scientific workforce. She was appointed by Commissioner Keon Hardemon to the City of Miami Sea Level Rise Committee as an advocate for low-income communities.