A candid dialogue organized by FIU Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator focused on the issue in the spirit of catalytic collaboration under our lead panelist, Dr. Sylvia Earle.

The evening’s panel to convene, network, and highlight the conversation across, in, and through disciplines with the potential of discovering a common ground for local actions on behalf of the oceans, which are severely under attack.

“We need to respect the oceans and take care of them as if our lives depended on it. Because they do.”

—Sylvia Earle

Panel

1. Sylvia Earle
2. Roberto Rovira
3. Shireen Rahimi
4. Biayna Bogosian
5. Sara Pezeshk
6. Neil Ramsay, Moderator

Speaker Bios

Sylvia Earle is President and Chairman of Mission Blue / The Sylvia Earle Alliance. She is a National Geographic Society Explorer in Residence and is called Her Deepness by the New Yorker and the New York Times, Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and first Hero for the Planet by Time Magazine. She is an oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer with experience as a field research scientist, government official, and director for several corporate and non-profit organizations.

Roberto Rovira is a landscape architect, chair of FIU LAEUD, and principal of Studio Roberto Rovira. He is a former U. S. Naval Officer. He combines his knowledge from landscape architecture, engineering, technology, and fine art to work at various scales and collaborate with interdisciplinary practitioners, as well as community, municipal, and government organizations. His work explores the intersection of technology and living systems through projects like the Ecological Atlas and the potential of landscape architecture to play a pivotal role in envisioning and shaping public space.

Dr. Shireen Rahimi is an Iranian/American filmmaker, marine anthropologist, underwater photographer, and National Geographic Explorer. With her work, Shireen tells stories about the unsung heroes and marginalized voices of human/nature—stories that are informed by science, infused with emotion, and driven by relatable characters.

Biayna Bogsosian is an Assistant Professor of Architectural Technology at Florida International University’s School of Architecture, Associate Program Director of FIU’s Robotics & Digital Fabrication Lab (RDF Lab), and Affiliated Faculty with FIU Institute of Environment. Her interdisciplinary research engages with sociotechnical and political dynamics of designing with urban environmental data. She is trained as an architect, computational, and immersive media designer.

Sara Pezeshk recently completed the Doctor of Design program in the School of Architecture (DDes) at Florida International University. Sara holds a Master of Emergent Technologies and Design from the Architectural Association in London and a Bachelor of Architecture from Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles. Sara has a wide range of teaching experience in computational design, material systems, sustainable design, and digital fabrication.

Neil Ramsay is a Research Associate at the Florida International University Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator and instructor for design and visual arts. He also works as a NEW INC mentor, Hudson Community Incubator advisor, creative capital consultant, founder of the experimental art space, ArtsUP! and concepts, and a consulting director of FATVillage Arts District in Fort Lauderdale.

“Behaviors are incentivized by the economics of acting, resulting in the traditional outcome of entrepreneurship and innovation, if not policy. Climate action will eventually mean business.”

—Neil Ramsay