Biography

Nilver Tovar Ospina earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Summer 2026, specializing in Environmental Anthropology. During his doctoral studies, he was also a graduate student affiliate of the UCF Coastal Cluster. His research examines the historical, political, and socio-environmental production of flood risk in Miami-Dade County, Florida, with particular attention to environmental inequality, disparities in climate adaptation, and the lived experiences of marginalized communities affected by recurrent flooding and sea-level rise.

His dissertation, Architectures of Flooding: History, Power, and the Production of Flood Risk in Miami-Dade County, integrates environmental anthropology, political ecology, Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), qualitative ethnography, and community-based research methods. His work investigates how hydrological transformations, urban development, infrastructural inequality, and historical planning practices have shaped uneven flood vulnerability across South Florida. It also highlights the experiential and human dimensions of flooding that are frequently absent from conventional flood assessments and climate adaptation frameworks.

Nilver holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and Management from Surcolombiana University in Colombia. His interdisciplinary background bridges environmental science, anthropology, and spatial analysis, allowing him to approach environmental challenges from both technical and socio-cultural perspectives.

His broader research interests include environmental governance, environmental racism, political ecology, Indigenous and local ecological knowledge, environmental health, biodiversity conservation, the environmental impacts of urban development, and socio-environmental inequalities affecting vulnerable communities.

Nilver’s research and interdisciplinary contributions have been recognized through multiple awards, including two consecutive Trevor Colbourn Anthropology Endowment Fund awards at UCF and the UCF Faculty Cluster Initiatives Award. He has also presented his work at regional and national academic conferences focused on environmental anthropology, climate adaptation, and human-environment interactions.

• Research Interests / Specializations