Natalia Romero

Why did you choose Cornell?

Cornell seemed to have a variety of fields and courses that interested me. The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department faculty were interested in interdisciplinary problems and supported students who also had diverse interests.

What is your research project?

I am researching methods for modeling, and analyzing infrastructure system performance during extreme events. My research used models of a water supply system, a power network, a urban transportation network, and a air passenger transportation system to evaluate seismic and terrorism risk. I am especially interested in developed decision support tools to make better investments in interdependent infrastructures under multi-hazard scenarios.

Who is your adviser? How has he/she influenced your graduate educational experience?

I work with Professor Linda Nozick. She has been tremendously supportive during my time at Cornell. She worked with me at length to find a topic for my research that I would like. She is very engaged in the research we conduct together and provides excellent career development guidance. Above all she loves what she does, which really enhanced my experience working with her.

What other activities are you involved in?

I took sailing, downhill skiing, and the culinary class. If the class is available, wake up early to pre-enroll for the culinary class, it is definitely worth it. I enjoyed all of them. I also enjoy attending to some of the various of lectures available on campus. I play tennis, squash, and, I also love spinning and biking around the Cayuga Lake region.

What do you like about living in Ithaca?                     

I love the spring and the fall, and the smell of the air in a cool morning. Overall, there are a lot of things to do in Ithaca. Cornell, the city of Ithaca, and the Finger Lakes region provide a variety of options for activities. If you like outdoor activities you can select from mountain biking, sailing, kayaking, etc. There are regular Hollywood movies, as well as a great selection of art house movies on campus and in Ithaca. For a small city the restaurants are good, and there is variety.

How do you make it work financially?

The grad student stipend was always enough to pay for rent, food, entertainment, gas to travel to Washington, DC once a month, and even save a nice two-week trip each year.

What are your plans after graduation?

I am going to be a postgraduate associate. I want to continue working in the research I have been pursuing and try to figure out how to better apply my research to international development and the reconstruction of regions after disasters, such as the devastation of earthquakes or civil wars.