Immersion Alumni

Foresight Immersion 2011 Fellow

All the pieces of the community resilience puzzle came together for Nathalie during her Foresight Immersion 2011 experience. She recently enrolled at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she is researching preparedness techniques for disaster management and humanitarian assistance, allowing a convergence of sustainable urban design, architecture and public policy for greater preparedness, safety and resiliency.

Currently: Masters Degree Candidate, Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Certificate Candidate, Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance. Graduate Assistant at the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center with University of Hawaii (focus on resilient and holistic solutions).

Career Path: Yale University (B.A., Architecture)> Tourism and Hotel Management throughout Australia > Research on urban design with the Royal Institute of British Architects > Southwest Airlines Department of Facilities Intern > Northwestern University (Public Policy and Administration) > Foresight Immersion > University of Hawaii, Urban and Regional Planning

Next Step: I am currently working on a hurricane preparedness course to be certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It focuses on community resilience through education on preparedness techniques, shelter design, and integrated response. Right now I am looking forward to working with FEMA, Red Cross, and Department of Civil Defense on community shelter needs. After this project I hope to focus more on community concerns ranging from transit, education, and asset building.

Personal Sustainability: Bike or bus to school, use re-usable bags instead of plastic bags, keep windows open and breeze moving through my apartment in Hawaii instead of A/C, use natural lighting instead of lights until the sun goes down.

Currently Reading: In the middle of Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit, and just started Mass Motorization and Mass Transit by David W. Jones.

Recommends: Twitter! I have started following many individuals and organizations focused on sustainability and urban issues on the site. It's a great way to share articles you have found and see what other people have been finding. Reading articles in this way has helped me find articles and sites that I might not have found on my own, and is providing a wider range of topics to look at!

Foresight Memories: Immersion was an unbelievable experience and definitely makes other programs seem like they are missing pieces of the puzzle. The memories with my workgroup- Kim, Carley, and Nathan- are some of the best. We got to go on several adventures while working towards a solution and I cannot imagine having gone through the learning process without them! In particular I remember the long days of making webs, diagrams, and pushing through several presentation formats. Immersion is challenging in looking at such a wide variety of issues, but I will not forget the lessons that this process and my group taught me!

Next Gen Advice: Follow the design process even if it seems counter intuitive. Don't start a project with the outcome in mind and be open to working with groups and organizations in new ways. Being aware of the process is probably one of the most valuable lessons that can be applied to future projects and groups... I just wish everyone had the opportunity to learn from the Immersion program!

Dream Project/Job: Right now I would love to work on a comparative analysis of transit systems to have a better understanding of the social aspects of public transit. I think public transit systems are far more focused on numbers and less focused on the experience of those using the systems. Perhaps looking at what makes a transit system fun and easy to use would be a good lesson to improve ridership. Additionally, looking at transit systems to address spatial mismatch between urban poor and job availability.