Sonia Chao is associate dean of research and a research associate professor at University of Miami School of Architecture. She co-directs the Master of Professional Science in Urban Sustainability and Resilience and is faculty lead on climate, environment, and resilience at the university’s Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas. Chao writes and lectures on subtropical and tropical sustainable and resilient design and recently concluded an NSF study resulting in the creation of the Storm Surge Building Vulnerability model. Her peer-reviewed papers appear in journals including Applied Geography, and she led the University of Miami’s inaugural virtual resilience conference in 2021. A member of Metrolab Miami Initiative and executive board member of the Florida Climate Institute, Chao authored the forthcoming book, Calibrating Coastal Resilience.
Previously
As sea levels rise in Miami, so do concerns that much of the city’s historic districts will themselves soon be history. Today, the urgency of the challenge is inspiring a raft...