Paula González

Paula Gonzalez, SC, PhD

Sister Paula González, PhD, (born 1932) entered the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati in 1954. She earned her doctorate in biology at the Catholic University in Washington, DC, and was a biology professor at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio, for 21 years.

Since 1972, Sister Paula has been freelancing as a futurist and environmentalist, working for more than three decades to promote sustainable living. She has given over 1600 presentations; developed audiotape courses in Earth-healing; and has written several articles and book chapters on eco-spirituality, conservation, and renewable energy. She supported the work of the Alternate Energy Association of Southwestern Ohio, including serving as president for a while.

Sister Paula designed and did much of the work of converting a former chicken barn into "Casa del Sol," a 1200 sq ft super-insulated, passive-solar house she shares with another Sister of Charity. When the temperature dropped below zero in the winter of 1985, the home temperature dropped to no lower than 50 degrees without any heater running. Sister Paula's success with solar energy earned her the nickname "Solar Nun."

Sister Paula founded EarthConnection, a world-renowned environmental learning center, where tours, internships, and environmental educational programs were conducted until 2001. Located on the grounds of her congregation’s motherhouse, the EarthConnection Center was completed in 1995 and continues to serve as a showcase various renewable-energy technologies. The Center uses multiple energy-conservation strategies including daylighting, passive and active solar thermal, grid-tied photovoltaic, and geo-exchange energy systems.

The American Solar Energy Society's Ohio Chapter, Green Energy Ohio, gave Sister Paula their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

In 2007, Sister Paula and Keith Mills founded Ohio Interfaith Power and Light, a coalition of religious people responding to the climate-change crisis. Ohio Interfaith Power and Light is an affiliate of The Regeneration Project's national Interfaith Power and Light campaign, which has programs in 26 states involving over 4000 congregations (as of May 2008).

Works

Book Chapters, etc.

1. In Medical-Surgical Nursing by Shafer et al, Ecology and Health, St. Louis: Mosby, 1975.

2. Study Guide to Accompany Textbook of Anatomy and Physiology, Reith, Breidenbach, Lorenc, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978.

3. In The Future of Global Nuclearization, Global Nuclearization: Some Alternative Futures, New York:Joint Strategy and Action Committee, Inc., 1985.

4. In Embracing Earth: Catholic Approaches to Ecology, An Eco-prophetic Parish?, A.J. LaChance and J.E. Carroll, eds., Maryknoll, NY: 1994.

5. In Ecology and Religion: Scientists Speak, Learning from the Earth: Key to Sustainable Development, J.E. Carroll and K.E. Warner, eds., Quincy IL: Franciscan Press, 1998.

6. In Earth at Risk: An Environmental Dialogue between Religion and Science, Developing an Ethic for Sustainable Community, D.B. Conroy and R.L. Petersen, New York: Humanity Books, 2000.

Audiotape Programs

1. Healing the Earth: An Emerging Spirituality, (12-session minicourse), Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1991.

2. What on Earth Are We Doing? (5 hours), Kansas City, MO: Credence Cassettes, 1994.

Videotape Programs

1. Reading the Signs of the Times: Justice, Ecology and Christian Life, (2 hours), Laurel MD: Earth Communications, 1995.

2. In The Great Chain of Being: Simplifying Our Lives, Awakening to the Sacred (1 hr) and Toward a Sustainable Future (1 hr), Albuquerque, NM: Center for Action and Contemplation Summer Conference, 2007.