Miami-Dade's new climate change czar has a mission: 'We want this place to survive'

Alex Harris, Miami Herald on Jan 23, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MIAMI — Miami-Dade County has a new chief resilience office: Curtis Osceola, former chief of staff of the Miccosukee Tribe.

Unlike most chief resilience officers in Miami-Dade and beyond, Osceola has no formal experience in science or engineering. He’s the tribe’s first-ever lawyer — a University of Miami graduate — and once served as a public defender for the county.

But in his most recent role, Osceola worked alongside the tribe’s chairman to steer dollars and attention to the tribe’s preferred Everglades Restoration projects, as well as bring in big-ticket federal grants for resilience projects.

That’s exactly what drew Miami-Dade to ask him to apply for the role, said Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

“He brings a unique skill set as an internal change agent and a coalition builder for environmental protection that will be essential to our work protecting our natural resources and building a future-ready Miami-Dade,” she said in a statement. “The Miccosukee are the ancestral protectors of South Florida’s natural environment and I’m proud that we will uplift and continue to build on that legacy with Curtis as Chief Resilience Officer.”

Osceola said he sees himself as an advocate for the ongoing work within Miami-Dade.

“The idea is my work would be to complement the expertise that already exists in the resilience office,” he said. “I’m walking into an office that has decades and decades of experience and expertise in very scientific fields.”

He also views himself as a collaborator with the ability to find compromises, even with people who may disagree with him. That could be an important skill in Miami-Dade, the county with perhaps the most to lose as seas rise, within a state and federal government who are resistant — if not antagonistic — to climate action.

“I think that’s the common thread we have to all remember. We’re all trying to do the right thing for the public,” he said. “Idon’t see any reason why we can’t work together.”

On Monday, his first day in the office, Osceola said he plans to focus on pushing for the Everglades restoration projects that benefit Miami-Dade, addressing the switch to renewable energy and breaking down the county’s massive carbon footprint.

“We want this place to survive 50, 100, 200 years. We want Miami to persist into the future,” he said. “We have so much to do and so little time to do it.”

As the second chief resilience officer in Miami-Dade, Osceola replaces Jim Murley, who was hired by previous Mayor Carlos Gimenez and stayed on under Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. He retired last year.