Sister Paula González, S.C., Ph.D.

Early Life and Religious Calling

Sister Paula González, S.C., Ph.D.

Paula González was born in 1932 and entered the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati in 1954, joining a congregation with deep roots in education and service to those in need. She went on to earn a doctorate in biology and spent 21 years as a biology professor at the College of Mount St. Joseph (now Mount St. Joseph University) in Cincinnati, Ohio — teaching generations of students to see the natural world with wonder and scientific rigor.

Her scientific training would prove foundational. Long before ecospirituality entered the mainstream religious vocabulary, Sister Paula was quietly connecting the dots between faith, biology, and the health of the planet. By 1972, she had begun speaking and writing about ecological responsibility as a moral and spiritual imperative — not just an environmental concern.

La Casa del Sol: The Solar Nun Is Born

In the years following the 1973 oil crisis, Sister Paula did something few religious sisters — or anyone — had attempted: she converted a former chicken barn on the Sisters of Charity's Delhi Hills motherhouse campus into "La Casa del Sol" ("The House of the Sun"), a super-insulated, passive solar home that she would live in for years.

The project was equal parts demonstration and declaration. La Casa del Sol proved that sustainable living was not a distant ideal but a practical, livable reality. It also earned Sister Paula the nickname that would follow her for the rest of her life: the "Solar Nun."

The house became a place of education as much as habitation. Visitors came to see how solar energy, careful design, and intentional living could reduce a household's footprint dramatically. It planted the seed for what would become EarthConnection.

Founding EarthConnection

Sister Paula founded EarthConnection on the Sisters of Charity campus in Delhi Hills, Cincinnati. The center was designed from the outset as a hands-on learning environment — a living classroom where renewable energy technologies, ecological awareness, and spirituality could intersect in tangible ways.

EarthConnection incorporated solar panels, geothermal heating and cooling, a greenhouse, a rain garden, and other green technologies, all woven into a campus that welcomed schoolchildren, faith communities, university students, and the general public. The message was consistent: caring for the Earth is not separate from caring for one another. It is an act of love, justice, and faith.

Sister Paula had a gift for meeting people where they were — whether she was speaking to a room full of scientists, a congregation of worshippers, or a group of curious fifth-graders. Over her lifetime, she gave more than 1,800 presentations weaving together ecology, theology, and the urgency of living lightly on the Earth.

National Advocacy and Ohio Interfaith Power and Light

Sister Paula's influence extended well beyond Cincinnati. She was a sought-after speaker on college campuses, at religious conferences, and in community forums across the country. She helped faith communities understand that ecological responsibility was not a political stance but a spiritual one — rooted in reverence for creation and love of neighbor.

In 2007, she co-founded Ohio Interfaith Power and Light (OIPL), a statewide organization mobilizing congregations of all faiths to reduce energy consumption, adopt renewable energy, and advocate for climate-responsible public policy. OIPL reflected her conviction that religious communities, when they act together, can be a powerful moral voice in public life.

Legacy

Sister Paula González died on July 31, 2016, at the age of 83. She had been a Sister of Charity for more than six decades — a scientist, a teacher, a builder, and above all a witness to the belief that the way we inhabit this Earth is a moral and spiritual matter.

EarthConnection continues to carry her vision forward — welcoming visitors, hosting programs, and reminding all who come that the ordinary acts of daily life (how we heat our homes, where our food comes from, how we use energy) are quietly profound expressions of what we believe and who we are.

Sister Paula saw the Earth not as a resource to be managed but as a community to which we belong. That conviction — scientific and sacred at once — is her enduring gift.