RISE 2019 Conference

Transforming University Engagement In Pre- and Post-Disaster Environments: Lessons from Puerto Rico

Ramon Bueno

Climate Resilience & Development Specialist

Independent Consultant + Somerville/MA Commission Energy Use & Climate Change

 

havidan rodriguez photo

Ramón Bueno focuses on how different dimensions of resilience and vulnerabilities interact with equity in development and technology, within the context of social practices, institutions and governance. Since 2007 he worked for several years in the Climate Economics Group at Tufts' Global Development And Environment Institute (GDAE) and later at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). The work explored the relationship and policy implications between economic and energy development, climate change and its impacts in a world highly uneven among countries and regions. Subsequently independent, among others he collaborated with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) in a “coastal climate equity” project developing indicators for joint climate and socioeconomic vulnerabilities in coastal communities. Ramón was born in Cuba then later grew up in Puerto Rico. He studied aerospace engineering and a master’s degree in systems modeling and optimization at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Aside from aerospace (e.g., Space Shuttle navigation), he later worked as designer/developer of decision support systems and business intelligence solutions. His interests in the Caribbean region extended to his climate-related work, starting in 2008 with The Caribbean and Climate Change: The Costs of Inaction, with colleagues at the Climate Economics Group. He has participated in presentations, dialogues and lectures at universities in Puerto Rico, and with others such as the Puerto Rico Climate Change Council and the Center for Investigative Journalism. Following the devastation by the 2017 hurricanes, he has been engaged in dialogues fostering connections and collaborations between colleagues in the Island and universities and professionals in the Boston area.