My academic career in Guatemala was at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala. Shortly after my graduation from college, I became a part-time professor at the School of Architecture (1996-1998). There I taught courses in Research Methods, Introduction to Design Theory and also became an advisor for senior students conducting thesis work. Between 1991 and 1993, I also worked as a teaching assistant for the courses in Research Methods and Design Theory. Since those courses were geared towards students in their freshmen and sophomore years, I also provided general advice to my students on how to choose the subjects that would let them achieve their academic goals later on. I believe that my background as an international student at VCU and as a professor from a foreign country would be an asset to the students participating in your international program.
In both my student and academic careers in Guatemala, I have accumulated a wealth of research and grant-seeking experience. In 1992 I started to collaborate with a group of scholars from the University of Mexico in developing research proposals to obtain funding for several bi-national research projects including: “The Baroque in Chiapas” “El Barroco en Chiapas” and “Vernacular Houses in Guatemala” “Viviendas Vernaculas en Guatemala”. (Given the political unrest that hit Guatemala in 1993, those research projects weren’t concluded.) During my senior year, I obtained a research fellowship to conduct a study titled “Post Modernism in the Historic Downtown of Guatemala City” “Postmodernismo en el Centro Historico de la Ciudad de Guatemala” the grant was provided by the General Office of Research (DIGI in Spanish) of the University of San Carlos thru a National competition. In 1995, I started working in an international research project under the direction of Dr. Mario Monteforte Toledo, professor emeritus at the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The research project took place in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Guatemalan Government. The study focused on temporary migration that occurred at the border between Guatemala and Mexico and its effects on the cities located near that border. This study was published in 1997 under the title “The Moving Border” ”La Frontera Movil”.
I received a national award for the best thesis in 1996 by the Guatemalan Association of Architects (Colegio de Arquitectos de Guatemala). My thesis work “Urban Growth in the City of Esquipulas, Chiquimula and the Central American Parliament”,” EL Crecimiento Urbano en la Ciudad Sede del PARLACEN, Esquipulas Chiquimula” was a comprehensive study of the economic, social and cultural impacts of being the host of the Declaration of Esquipulas I and II, which marked the beginning of several peace processes in Central America. The City of Esquipulas, located near the international borders of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala presented a very unique opportunity to study the beginning of globalization in Central America.
In 1997 I worked as senior researcher on a study lead by Professor Mabel Hernandez. “The Architecture and Urbanism of the Banana Plantations: The United Fruit Company and the Victorian Style in Guatemala” “La Arquitectura y Urbanismo en las Plantaciones Bananeras: UFCo y el Estilo Victoriano”. Our research team studied the influence of the banana plantations and the urbanization of the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts of Guatemala. My specific responsibilities within this project were to coordinate, supervise and advise research assistants, conduct field work and writing the chapter that analyzes urban form on six coastal settlements. In 1998, I coordinated a research project entitled “The Homes of the Widows, the Study of Three Mayan Towns in Guatemala: Nebaj, Cotzal and Chajul”, with funds from DIGI. This study dealt with the implications of reconstruction and developed a methodology to promote public participation from the victims of the civil war in Guatemala and to protect the historical patrimony of the vernacular architecture of indigenous villages in Guatemala.
My research experience continued after I came to the U.S. from Guatemala in December of 1998 to pursue a graduate education. In May of 2002, I received a Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from VCU, with a focus on international development and planning. Since the fall of 2000, I worked under the direction of Dr. Robert Rugg and Dr. John Accordino as a research assistant for the Richmond Urban Indicators Project in coordination with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and with the sponsorship of the Ford Foundation. My role was to create a more user friendly GIS system to be used by the local community development corporations and to provide training and to update data bases and design GIS maps. In 2001, I collaborated in the preparation of a research proposal: “Urban Indicators at the Sub City Level in Guatemala City and Shanghai, China” and was instrumental in establishing contacts with counterparts and built partnerships with the Universidad of San Carlos of Guatemala. This proposal was selected by the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS). Under the direction of Dr. Robert Rugg and Dr. Weiping Wu, I worked as research assistant. My main responsibilities were to facilitate communications with Spanish speaking partners in Guatemala, as well as to provide training for them, designing and creating data bases to be used in Arc View, digitization and design of several maps and, the preparation of presentations and drafting progress reports.
In addition, I have had experience working on international development issues. In 1997, I received a postgraduate diploma on human rights and peaceful conflict resolution, granted by the Central American Universities’ Superior Council (CESUCA) funded thru the European Union special grant. The goal of that special training was to help teachers at the college level to educate students on democracy, civil rights, facilitation and resolution of conflicts. During the summer of 2001, I did an Internship with the Guatemalan Office of the United Nations Development Program for whom I prepared a proposal for the creation of a GIS system to support decision makers to plan development, disaster prevention and management in medium and small municipalities. At the end of my internship I was asked to present my proposal to the senior advisors of Guatemala’s Vice-president and staff working at the National office for Economic Planning. My work with UNDP was intended to be a proposal that could be presented to potential donor nations.
My main areas of academic interest include: long-term impacts of globalization, sustainability, multiculturalism, human ecology, urbanism and historic heritage preservation and how all those elements are reflected in human settlements. Since I move to the US, I have also developed a strong interest in comparative studies between Latin American countries and the US. My future career goals include pursuing a Doctorate degree, and become a public intellectual with the capacity to bridge the academia and community, with a particular focus on Latino American countries.
In my professional planning positions, I have accumulated substantial planning experience. I have a strong backgroud on digital mapping applied to planning. Specifically, I have been reponsible for creation and development of creating series of GIS planning maps including a facilities inventory for James City County, Virginia, a parcel based Land Use map for the City of Hampton Virginia, Thematic maps of Urban Indicators for neighborhoods in Richmond, Virginia and digitazing the map of "barrios y colonias" of Guatemala City.
I joined Hampton's Planning Department in the fall of 2002 and was promoted to a senior planner position after obtaining my AICP certification in May of 2004. I worked as the point person for two strategic investment areas of the City: Downtown Hampton and the Kecoughtan Corridor. I also worked along with the comprehensive plan team to develop Hampton's community plan adopted by Hampton's City Council in February of 2006. In this particular project I was resposible for leading the mapping efforts as well as writing community facilities, economic development and Housing chapters of such plan.
In 2006 Assistant Director of Operations position because it is an opportunity to advance my professional career and to contribute to an exciting interdisciplinary endeavor. I look forward to using my skills and professional experience as a return to the academic profession.
