Daniel Suman, a professor of Marine Affairs and Policy who teaches at Miami Law and at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science of the University of Miami, taught the course and covered a wide spectrum of topics centering on environmental management issues in coastal Miami.
Suman’s work focuses on the management of coastal areas, including mechanisms to increase institutional cooperation, capacity building, development of management plans, and reduction of conflicts between various resource users.
During the weeklong course in Miami, students delved into port management and policy in the region, as well as the legal concerns of the cruise line industry, visiting the Port of Miami, Biscayne National Park, and Miami Beach.
“This was a unique experience on a personal and academic level,” said Alejandra Vargas Mendoza, a student at PUJ. “Professor Suman is a great professor with so much invaluable experience. The visits he arranged to the sites were so insightful and made sense of the concepts we were studying,”
The students from Miami Law and PUJ explored the legal and policy responses to important issues including adaptations to sea level rise/climate change by highly vulnerable jurisdictions in South Florida.
South Florida is also home to a broad suite of marine and coastal protected areas, all which face strong pressures from various stakeholders, as well as natural causes. The participants were introduced to the goals of these various protected areas, as well as the challenges that they face. South Florida has been implementing Everglades Restoration projects for over 25 years and these efforts form one of the world´s largest ecological restoration projects.
In the spring, for the second part of the collaboration with PUJ, Miami Law students will travel to Cali and Cartagena, Colombia for Port and Coastal Management (LAW629) with Professor Suman. This short course will explore issues related to port development management including environmental impacts, international trade, strategic port development, and institutional arrangements for managing ports and maritime transportation. Students will visit Colombia’s principal Pacific port in Buenaventura, the Bahía Málaga National Park, and the UNESCO World Heritage Site in colonial Cartagena.
“The international students from Colombia in the course were professional in and out of the classroom, and curious about both life and laws in the US,” Miami Law student, Nicholas Andonie said. “I am certain that UM students visiting Colombia in the spring portion of the program will be treated to some of the friendliest hospitality (and best salsa dancing) in the world.”
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