As a direct result of our ongoing and substantial strategic partnership with Virginia Sea Grant (VASG), we are pleased to welcome Irem Sezer as the AIA Virginia VASG Resiliency Fellow.
Irem received a Bachelor of Architecture from Istanbul Technical University and is licensed as an architect in Turkey. Irem graduated in May 2023 with a Master of Architecture from Virginia Tech and is now pursuing licensure in the United States.
As the Resiliency Fellow, Irem will contribute to the resiliency and sustainability activities and programming organized by AIA Virginia, VA COTE, and the Outreach Advisory Council (e.g., Resiliency Week).
Irem will also support Virginia Sea Grant’s Adaptation Design Network (ADN). The ADN looks to integrate diverse disciplinary and sector-specific perspectives to generate transformational hybrid and nature-based solutions to issues such as flooding, sea level rise, and extreme weather.
Other potential projects include working with community-based resilience and design needs emerging from the Collaboratory with Wetlands Watch, or communities participating in the Resilience Adaptation & Feasibility Tool (RAFT) initiative with the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Old Dominion University.
The fellow will be a member of the VASG fellowship community with access to professional development training and cohort services that aim to enable the teamwork needed to find solutions to our climate challenges. The fellow will also work with professional mentors from within the AIAVA community.
This fellowship presents a massive opportunity for us to strengthen our continuing efforts to address issues concerning resiliency and sustainability across the commonwealth and become a significant influencer of statewide policy; an objective identified in our current Strategic Plan.
Please contact Paul Battaglia if you or your firm would be interested in collaborating with Irem on resiliency activities.