The colors of the emblem are navy blue and gold representing Florida International University and incorporates the themes from NOAA’s emblem connecting the air, Earth, and sea.
The vibrant urban landscape of South Florida is depicted, highlighting the iconic Miami Freedom Tower as a beacon for the future of the people and the connections to the cities, environment, land, and water.
The interconnections between the buried infrastructure (including vertical piles and horizontal pipe features), the soil, coastline, surface water and ground water are illustrated with a central monitoring well that provides data to understand possible subsurface risks.