El Instituto Lincoln ofrece una variedad deoportunidades de carrera temprana y media para los investigadores. En esta serie, hacemos un seguimiento con antiguos académicos y becarios del Instituto Lincoln para obtener más información sobre su trabajo.
Como director del Centro de Ciencias de la Conservación Resiliente de The Nature Conservancy, el ecologista Mark Anderson dirigió un equipo de científicos en el desarrollo y mapeo de lared nacional resiliente y conectada de TNC: paisajes vinculados especialmente adaptados para preservar la biodiversidad y resistir los impactos del cambio climático. En 2021, Anderson recibió elpremio y la beca Kingsbury Browne, que lleva el nombre del abogado de Boston y exmiembro del Instituto Lincoln cuyo trabajo condujo a la creación deLand Trust Alliance. En esta entrevista, que ha sido editada con motivos de longitud y claridad, Anderson explica por qué las fortalezas naturales conectadas son vitales para combatir nuestra crisis de biodiversidad.
JON GOREY: ¿Cuál es el enfoque de su investigación?
MARK ANDERSON:La conservación de la tierra y el agua es extremadamente costosa y tiene un objetivo a largo plazo. En lo que nos hemos centrado en realidad es en asegurarnos de que estamos conservando lugares que son resistentes al cambio climático, pensando en la pérdida de biodiversidad, y dónde están los lugares en el suelo o en el agua que creemos que continuarán sosteniendo la naturaleza, incluso cuando el clima cambia de maneras que no podemos predecir por completo.A medida que profundizamos cada vez más en la ciencia, la belleza de esto es que las propiedades del suelo y el agua, la topografía, los tipos de suelo, la forma en que el agua se mueve y se acumula, en realidad crean resiliencia en el sistema. Cuando escuchas sobre un desastre climático, por ejemplo, una sequía o una inundación, te lo imaginas como un gran revuelo en todas partes. Pero de hecho, hay todo tipo de detalles sobre cómo se desarrolla eso en el suelo, y, en realidad, podemos usar una comprensión de eso para encontrar lugares que son mucho más resistentes y lugares que son mucho más vulnerables. Entonces, los efectos de eso se propagan de manera comprensible y predecible, y eso es en lo que nos enfocamos: encontrar esos lugares donde creemos que la naturaleza retendrá la resiliencia.
El cambio climático es muy diferente a cualquier otra amenaza que hayamos enfrentado porque es un cambio en las condiciones ambientales del planeta. Es un cambio en los regímenes de temperatura y humedad. Y, en respuesta a ese cambio, la naturaleza literalmente tiene que reorganizarse. Entonces, una gran pregunta es, ¿cómo ayudamos a la naturaleza a prosperar y conservamos la capacidad de la naturaleza para reorganizarse? La conectividad entre lugares donde las especies pueden prosperar y moverse es clave para eso.
Dividimos los EE. UU. en alrededor de 10 regiones y, en cada una de esas regiones, teníamos un gran comité directivo de científicos de todos los estados. Lo revisaron, discutieron sobre los conceptos, probamos cosas, lo probaron en el suelo, y eso es lo que mejoró la calidad del trabajo, todo gracias a ellos. Para cuando terminamos, se necesitaron 287 científicos y 12 años, así que fue mucho trabajo. Involucramos a muchas personas en el trabajo, por lo que ahora hay mucha confianza en el conjunto de datos.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) pasó más de una década construyendo su Resilient Land Mapping Tool, basándose en los aportes de 287 científicos de los Estados Unidos. Crédito: TheNatureConservancy.
JG: ¿En qué está trabajando ahora y en qué le interesaría trabajar luego?
MA: Estados Unidos no ha firmadoel acuerdo global 30×30 [para proteger el 30 por ciento del suelo y los océanos del mundo para 2030], pero tenemos a America the Beautiful, que el gobierno de Biden lanzó como un plan 30×30. La gente se obsesiona con ese 30 por ciento, lo cual es importante, pero si queremos mantener la biodiversidad, lo que en realidad importa es, ¿cuál es el 30 por ciento? ¿Estamos representando a todos los ecosistemas, estamos abarcando a todas las especies? ¿Estamos encontrando lugares que sean resilientes y los estamos conectando de manera que la naturaleza pueda moverse y sostenerse?
Nuestro trabajo tiene que ver con la resiliencia, la conectividad y la biodiversidad, y resulta que la red que se nos ocurrió, que tiene una representación completa de todos los hábitats, ecorregiones y conectividad, resultó ser el 34 por ciento [de los EE. UU.]. Así que lo hemos adoptado internamente en TNC como nuestro marco: Estamos tratando de conservar esa red, y ha sido muy emocionante. Porque en los últimos cinco años, conservamos 445 mil hectáreas, de las cuales unas tres cuartas partes estaban directamente en la red.
En 2023, The Nature Conservancy protegió paisajes de alta prioridad, como el lago Fern, que se extiende por la frontera entre Kentucky y Tennessee en Cumberland Gap. Crédito: PapaBear a través de iStock/Getty Images Plus.
Es muy poco probable que el gobierno federal vaya a hacer la conservación; en realidad la van a hacer las ONG privadas, las agencias estatales y losfideicomisos de suelo. De hecho, en el noreste, la conservación de tierras privadas en los últimos 10 años superó a toda la conservación de las agencias federales y estatales combinadas. Entonces, nuestra estrategia ha sido crear una herramienta y difundir la ciencia, y alentar a las personas a usar la ciencia y pensar en la resiliencia ante el cambio climático, con los dedos cruzados para que, si esto tiene sentido para las personas, donde sea que estén, . . . conserve la red de manera difusa.
JG: ¿Qué desearía que más personas supieran sobre conservación, biodiversidad y ecología?
MA:Bueno, dos cosas: una buena, otra mala. Ojalá más personas entendieran la urgencia de la crisis de la biodiversidad. El hecho de que hayamos perdido 3.000 millones de aves: hay 3.000 millones menos de aves que hace 40 años. Los mamíferos ahora están limitados a pequeños fragmentos de sus hábitats originales. Hay una crisis en los insectos, eso es muy aterrador. La mayor parte de mi carrera, nos enfocamos en cosas raras; ahora estas son cosas comunes que están disminuyendo en abundancia. Así que desearía que la gente en verdad entendiera eso.
Y también me gustaría que la gente entendiera que podemos cambiar eso, enfocando realmente nuestra energía y conservando los lugares correctos, y todavía hay esperanza y tiempo para hacerlo. Es una gran tarea y solo pueden realizarla miles de organizaciones que trabajan en ella, pero se puede revertir.
Nutrias de río en el Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Patoka River, Indiana. The Nature Conservancy recientemente compró 700 hectáreas adyacentes al refugio, y expandió el hábitat de vida silvestre conectado del valle a más de 8.000 hectáreas. Crédito: Steve Gifford vía Flickr CC BYNCND 2.0.
JG: En lo que respecta a su trabajo, ¿qué lo mantiene despierto por la noche? ¿Y qué le da esperanza?
MA: Bueno, soy científico, y hay tantos errores y problemas potenciales y problemas de datos; nunca se terminan. Así que nuestros resultados no son perfectos. Son bastante buenos, se han probado mucho en el terreno, pero no son perfectos.
La otra cosa es el futuro. En serio quiero que mis hijos y nietos tengan un mundo maravilloso lleno de naturaleza, y para llegar allí, vamos a tener que hacer un gran cambio de rumbo.
JG: ¿Qué es lo más sorprendente que ha aprendido en su investigación?
MA:Cuando comenzamos este trabajo, no teníamos un concepto de cómo sería el final. Y quizás pensé en el final como un montón de lugares grandes, ¿sabes? Pero no son un montón de lugares grandes, es una red, una red de lugares conectados, algunos grandes, otros pequeños. Así que eso fue una sorpresa para mí.
JG: Trabaja mucho con mapas, ¿cuál es el mapa más interesante que ha visto?
MA:Tenemos un concepto llamado flujo climático, que predice cómo se moverá la naturaleza a través del paisaje siguiendo áreas no fragmentadas y gradientes climáticos. Y uno de nuestros científicosanimó con éxito ese mapa, para que se pueda ver el movimiento de los flujos, y ese es uno de los mapas más interesantes. La precisión no es perfecta, pero transmite el concepto muy bien. Y fue este mapa el que nos ayudó a descubrir que hay un patrón en todo esto. No es al azar, hay un patrón: hay lugares donde se concentran los flujos, hay lugares donde el flujo se difunde, y es muy importante saberlo.
El mapa animado Migrations in Motion de The Nature Conservancy muestra la dirección en la que las especies se mueven para seguir los climas habitables mientras se desplazan sobre los paisajes. Crédito: Dan Majka/The Nature Conservancy.
JG: ¿Cuál es el mejor libro que ha leído recientemente? ¿O la mejor serie que ha visto?
MA:Recientemente, mi libro favorito esWilding (Renaturalización) por Isabella Tree. Es un libro de no ficción donde una pareja en Knepp decidió dejar que su tierra se volviera salvaje, y documentan el cambio de la agricultura a la naturaleza. Con el tiempo, todas estas especies raras comienzan a aparecer . . . y muy pronto se convertirá en un punto de acceso total a la biodiversidad. Así que es una lectura muy interesante, y muy esperanzadora.
En el último año he leído varios libros escritos desde la perspectiva Afroamericana acerca del movimiento ecologista, y esos son poderosos. Uno se llamaBlack Faces, White Spaces, por Carolyn Finney, y ahora estoy leyendo uno llamado A Darker Wilderness, y realmente te abre los ojos acerca de los problemas de equidad que están hay en la conservación.
The Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site is known for having served as the headquarters for George Washington during the siege of Boston, as well as for being the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow, his wife Fanny Appleton Longfellow, their children, and their friends were instrumental in the conservation of land running from the Longfellow House down to the Charles River, and across the river to an area known as Soldiers Field. These lands comprise part of a corridor of open space that also includes the Cambridge Cemetery, the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge and Watertown, Aberdeen Avenue in Cambridge, and the Fresh Pond Reservation. Today, much of this land remains protected from development, and the National Historic Site is an important part of the larger conservation history of Cambridge and Boston.
Celebrating the publication of the article “A View of the Charles: How an American Poet’s Love for His Cambridge Estate Conserved a Piece of the City’s Most Desirable Land,” the Lincoln Institute invites you, in person at 113 Brattle Street or online via Zoom, to join this presentation about the history and conservation legacy of the Longfellow House. Following a presentation from ILCN Director and coauthor Jim Levitt, staff from the National Parks Service will lead a tour of the grounds of the Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site for in-person participants.
Doors for the in-person event will open at 5:45 p.m.
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s China program invites applications for the annual International Fellowship Program. The program seeks applications from academic researchers working on the following topics in China:
Land use, carbon neutrality, and spatial planning and governance;
Urban regeneration;
Municipal finance and land value capture;
Impacts of New Urbanization;
Land policies;
Housing policies;
Urban environment and public health; and
Land and water conservation.
The fellowship aims to promote international scholarly dialogue on China’s urban development and land policy, and to further the Lincoln Institute’s objective to advance land policy solutions to economic, social, and environmental challenges. The fellowship is provided to scholars who are based outside mainland China. Visit the website of the Peking University–Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy (Beijing) to learn about a separate fellowship for scholars based in mainland China.
The deadline to submit an online application is December 11, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Details
Submission Deadline
December 11, 2024 at 11:59 PM
International Land Conservation Network Names 2024 Conservation Visionary Award Recipients
QUEBEC, CANADA—Two chiefs of Indigenous Nations in North America will accept the 2024 International Land Conservation Network (ILCN) Conservation Visionary Award for their vision and leadership in setting strategically significant global precedents for land conservation.
Mandy Gull-Masty, Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) and Chairperson of the Cree Nation Government, will receive the award on behalf of the many individuals who contributed to the implementation of the Cree Regional Conservation Strategy.
Anne Richardson, Chief of the Rappahannock Tribe in Virginia, will accept the award for her leadership in returning her tribe to their ancestral lands along the Rappahannock River and preserving—in perpetuity—their natural and cultural importance.
“It is our great honor to be able to work with Chief Anne Richardson and Grand Chief Mandy Gull-Masty,” said ILCN Director Jim Levitt. “Their leadership, their perseverance, and their diplomatic skills are world class. It is tremendously important that conservationists around the world take note of the passion and skill that Indigenous leaders bring to the field of land and cultural conservation.”
The ILCN Conservation Visionary Award is presented every three years at the ILCN’s triennial Global Congress to exceptional leaders and organizations that have made enduring contributions to land conservation policy and practice. This year’s Global Congress will bring together 250 land conservation practitioners across six continents from October 16 to 18 in Quebec, Canada. The 2024 Global Congress is cohosted by Canada’s leading land conservation organization, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).
Grand Chief Gull-Masty is the first woman to be elected Grand Chief/Chairperson of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)/Cree Nation Government. Throughout her career, she has championed her people’s interests and advocated for centering Cree values and leadership in the expansion of conservation lands across Eeyou Istchee (the Cree homeland). Through collaborating with nongovernmental organizations and international platforms, Chief Gull-Masty has effectively conveyed the Cree Nation’s concerns and emphasized the importance of Indigenous protected areas.
Grand Chief Gull-Masty played a key role in the Cree Nation’s collective efforts to protect about 10 million acres (some 4 million hectares) in Eeyou Istchee, the Cree people’s ancestral homeland. The Cree Regional Conservation Strategy is distinctive not only for its scale, ambitious targets for biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and sustainable community development, but also for the manner in which it carefully integrates the traditional knowledge of Cree land users, who have lived intimately with the land since time immemorial, and the expertise of Geographic Information System specialists at the Cree Nation and at supporting organizations such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
“Protecting and conserving the lands and waters of Eeyou Istchee (the Cree homeland) is essential for protecting our Cree way of life. The Cree Nation has been working pro-actively with our partners on building a large-scale protected areas network across the lands and seas of Eeyou Istchee, for the benefit of present and future generations. I am honored to receive this award on behalf of all of those who have helped in making this happen.”
Chief Anne Richardson has served as Chief of the Rappahannock Tribe since 1998, the first woman Chief to lead a Tribe in Virginia since the 1700s. Through her efforts, the Tribe was acknowledged by the federal government in 2018. Her groundbreaking efforts to advance Indigenous-led conservation have been recognized by US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who recently appointed Chief Richardson to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Board of directors.
Chief Richardson’s vision of returning her Tribe to their ancestral lands in the Rappahannock River Valley led her to partner with conservation organizations and federal agencies to purchase 465 acres (about 188 hectares) of their historic town, Pissacoack, along the four-mile stretch of diatomaceous cliffs known as Fones Cliffs. She is now leading an effort to rematriate more than 1,600 acres (about 650 hectares) of Fones Cliffs, the Tribe’s ancestral homelands, and protect them for their cultural heritage and as critical habitat for bald eagles and waterfowl.
“Rappahannock means “the people who live where the water rises and falls,” said Chief Richardson. “We are river people – the Beaver Clan – industrious builders. We view the eagle as a messenger from the Creator, who tells us to heal the land and reunite it with the people.”
These two initiatives are globally outstanding examples of Indigenous-led conservation and conservation through reconciliation, a growing movement that recognizes the importance of the former and the imperative for cultural respect, equality in value, and practice of diverse conservation systems.
“The global land conservation community must help realize the potential of all sectors of society to contribute to land protection goals,” said Chandni Navalkha, associate director of Sustainably Managed Land and Water Resources at the Lincoln Institute. “Indigenous-led conservation is central to achieving equitable, enduring, and effective efforts to safeguard land for its natural and cultural values.”
“We extend a sincere congratulations to Grand Chief Mandy Gull-Masty and Chief Anne Richardson for their inspiring leadership and for receiving these prestigious awards,” said Catherine Grenier, president and CEO of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. “Working in support of the Cree Nation Government has inspired NCC as an organization to work in new ways—to create new pathways to partnership and transform our ways of thinking that reconcile relationships with the land and each other. We hope others will look to you for similar inspiration, and as a testament to the knowledge, commitment and heart-centered leadership of Indigenous peoples around the world.”
Lead image: Anne Richardson, Chief of the Rappahannock Tribe in Virginia (left) and Mandy Gull-Masty, Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees of Eeyou Istchee and Chairperson of the Cree Nation Government (right), courtesy of the Rappahannock Tribe and Jared Gull
Conservationist Mavis Gragg Receives Kingsbury Browne Award
By Corey Himrod, Outubro 9, 2024
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The Land Trust Alliance and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy are pleased to announce that attorney and conservationist Mavis Gragg has been presented with the distinguished Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award at the Alliance’s annual national land conservation conference, held this year in Providence, Rhode Island.
Gragg is co-founder of HeirShares, an organization that delivers comprehensive educational content, data and technology to empower heirs’ property landowners and attorneys dealing with heirs’ property issues. She is a founding member of the Conservationists of Color, an affinity group creating space for practitioners of color within the land conservation movement to connect. Gragg is also a member of the Land Trust Alliance’s Conservation Defense Advisory Council and served on its Common Ground Advisory Council, which laid the groundwork for the Alliance’s community-centered conservation program.
The Kingsbury Browne Award is presented annually at Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference and honors those who have enriched the conservation community through their outstanding leadership, innovation and creativity in land conservation. Named for Kingsbury Browne, the conservationist who inspired the Alliance’s founding in 1982, the award ranks among the organization’s highest honors. Gragg will serve as the Kingsbury Browne distinguished practitioner for the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Mass., for 2024-2025.
“The word that comes to mind when I think about Mavis is ‘connector,’ because that’s what she does — she connects people to each other and she connects people to the resources they need to achieve their land goals,” said Jennifer Miller Herzog, interim president and CEO of the Land Trust Alliance. “Mavis came to conservation through people, focusing on family land retention following her own family’s experience with heirs’ property. And in her work, she has continued to put people first with a tirelessness and a generosity of spirit that is unmatched.”
“We are proud and honored to be able to work with Mavis over the coming year,” said Jim Levitt, director of the International Land Conservation Network. “Her pioneering insight will add momentum to the effort to broaden the reach and scope of the land conservation movement.”
Kingsbury Browne distinguished practitioners engage in research, writing and mentoring, and facilitate a project that builds upon and shares their experience with the broader community.
About the Land Trust Alliance
Founded in 1982, the Land Trust Alliance is a national land conservation organization working to save the places people need and love by empowering and mobilizing land trusts in communities across America to conserve land for the benefit of all. The Alliance represents approximately 1,000 member land trusts and affiliates supported by more than 250,000 volunteers and 6.3 million members nationwide. The Alliance is based in Washington, D.C., with staff in communities across the United States.
About the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy seeks to improve quality of life through the effective use, taxation and stewardship of land. A nonprofit private operating foundation whose origins date to 1946, the Lincoln Institute researches and recommends creative approaches to land as a solution to economic, social and environmental challenges. Through education, training, publications and events, we integrate theory and practice to inform public policy decisions worldwide.
By many accounts, Costa Rica has been a unique Central American success story—“a beacon of Enlightenment” and “a world leader in democratic, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth,” according to the prominent economist Joseph Stiglitz.
A nation of about 5 million people roughly the size of West Virginia, Costa Rica has been punching above its weight particularly in the realm of sustainability and climate action: a pioneer in eco-tourism; successful in getting nearly all of its power from renewable sources, including an enterprising use of hydro; and a leader in fighting deforestation and conserving land with its carbon-soaking rainforests.
The Land Matters podcast welcomed two special guests recently who know a thing or two about this country: Carlos Alvarado Quesada and Claudia Dobles Camargo, the former President and First Lady of Costa Rica. They are both in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, area this year—she is a Loeb Fellow, part of a mid-career fellowship program based at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, and he is a visiting professor of practice at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Former Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada and former First Lady Claudia Dobles Camargo at the Lincoln Institute offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in April 2023. Credit: Will Jason.
Also in the studio was Enrique Silva, vice president of programs at the Lincoln Institute, who oversees the organization’s research and activities globally, and has years of experience in and familiarity with Latin America.
The conversation, recorded at the Podcast Garage in Allston after a visit by the couple to the Lincoln Institute, included reflections on leadership and climate action, and what it’s been like to take a year to decompress after an eventful time in office, from 2018 to 2022.
Costa Rica has much to show the world when it comes to the implementation of targeted sustainability practices, Quesada said. “We’re not saying people have to do exactly the same [as we did], but we can say it’s possible, and it’s been done in a model that actually creates well-being and economic growth,” he said. “Back in the day, people would say it’s impossible—‘if you’re going to create protected areas, you’re going to destroy the economy.’ It turned out to be the other way around, it actually propelled the economy.”
After seeing big successes in the countryside, the interventions have turned to urban areas. “Costa Rica has done such an amazing job in nature-based solutions, not so much on urban sustainability,” said Dobles, noting the ambitious National Decarbonization Plan she launched with Quesada, which aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. “In order to decarbonize, we really needed to focus also on our urban agenda.”
A big task was reinvigorating public transit, starting with a new electric train that would have spanned the city of San Jose. Quesada’s successor shelved the $1.5 billion project, demonstrating the common mismatch between long-term projects and limited time in office. A pilot project to electrify buses was implemented, however, to rave reviews. The couple says they are hopeful the train will be revived.
“I know that this is eventually going to happen. Sometimes you have political setbacks,” said Quesada. “Your administration cannot own throughout time what’s going to happen, but you can plant positive seeds.”
Costa Rica has been nothing if not creative in addressing the many dilemmas inherent in climate action. Open-ore mining is banned, for example, but entrepreneurs figured out a way to extract lithium from recycled batteries.
“That’s very linked to the discussion of the just energy transition, where the jobs are going to come from, where the exports are going to come from. While there’s a huge opportunity for many developing countries which are rich and are endowed with minerals and metals . . . we need to address those complexities,” said Quesada.
Dobles added, “When we talk about decarbonization, we cannot exclude from that conversation, the inequality conversation. This is supposed to provide our possibilities of survival as humankind, but also it’s a possibility for a new type of social and economic development and growth.”
Former First Lady Claudia Dobles Camargo makes a point as former President Carlos Alvarado Quesada looks on. The pair visited the Lincoln Institute office to discuss their climate and sustainability initiatives in April 2023 while spending a year at Harvard and Tufts universities, respectively. Credit: Anthony Flint.
Reflecting on being in the land of Harvard, MIT, and Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage, Dobles said she has been immersed in “the whole academic ecosystem that is happening here . . . just to be, again, in academia, sometimes just to receive information, not having the pressure of having the answers . . . . It’s been wonderful.”
“Being a head of state for four years of a country, it’s an experience that I’m currently unpacking still,” said Quesada. “I’m doing a little bit of writing on that, but you get to reflect a lot, because it’s a period of time you live very intensely. In our case, we were not only working with decarbonization, with the projects we mentioned, we [were also working] with the fiscal sustainability of the country. We had COVID. We had [the legalization of same-sex marriage].
“We tend to train ourselves for things that are outside of us, like methods, tools, knowledge,” he said. “There’s a part of it that has to do with training ourselves, our feelings, our habits, our framing, our thinking . . . to address those hard challenges.”
Carlos Alvarado Quesada served as the 48th President of the Republic of Costa Rica from 2018 to 2022, when his constitutionally limited term ended. He won the 2022 Planetary Leadership Award from the National Geographic Society for his actions to protect the ocean, and was named to the TIME100 Next list of emerging leaders from around the world. Before entering politics, he worked for Procter and Gamble, Latin America.
Claudia Dobles Camargo is an architect with extensive experience in urban mobility, affordable and social housing, community engagement, climate change, and fair transition. As First Lady, she was co-leader of the Costa Rica National Decarbonization Plan. Her architecture degree is from the University of Costa Rica, and she also studied in Japan, concentrating on a sustainable approach to architecture.