http://geoadaptive.com/

Juan Carlos Vargas

Dr. Vargas is the Managing Principal at GeoAdaptive LLC – an interdisciplinary urban and regional consulting group based in Boston, MA devoted to the analysis and development of strategies that deliver sustainable forms of development. The firm integrates spatial economic, socio-ecological analysis and GIS simulation modeling approaches to deliver its services.

Dr. Vargas’s work focuses on the analysis and planning of rapidly changing territories. Dr. Vargas and his team have pioneered interdisciplinary approaches and methodologies for incorporating climate change, socio-economic conditions and policy considerations in the analysis of regions using participatory spatial scenarios.  In doing this, his work has influenced policy makers and international development organizations by increasing their understanding of the complex relationships underlying the urban, economic and environmental spatial structures in more than 22 countries.  Before GeoAdaptive, Dr. Vargas was a Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and Research Scientist and Lecturer at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also served as Assistant Director of MIT-USGS Science Impact Collaborative, directing numerous research projects and teaching graduate-level courses in regional socio-ecological and economic change simulation modeling.

Dr. Vargas holds a Diploma in Architecture and Urban Design from University of Costa Rica, and obtained his Masters and Doctoral degrees from Harvard University. He is an alumnus of the Sustainability Science Program Graduate Fellowship at the Kennedy School of Government – Harvard University and developed his postdoctoral research at MIT. He has been visiting faculty at universities in Europe, Asia, North and South America.