Students in the Master of Historic Preservation program get hands-on experience researching the physical condition of old buildings. Every Fall semester, students in Dr. Mark Reinberger's Building Material Conservation class are divided into teams to create structural assessments for a variety of clients. Students in the class were interviewed about their experiences.
Katherine Melcher, an associate professor of landscape architecture in the College of Environment and Design, has created the Community Landscape Lab to engage students and community groups using landscape architecture as the means to acuate social change. Through the Community Landscape Lab, Professor Melcher partners students with clients in a Master's level Landscape Architecture (MLA) studio to provide stakeholders with design concepts and engagement strategies useful to the community. Bringing more awareness to the lab's work, students developed a blog to publish information about the projects they are working on, including background information, weekly updates on community feedback, and their design recommendations.
Researchers have identified significant linkages between public health and the design of the built environment, including impacts on physical activity, walkability, social and mental health. While most design research centers on the re-design of cities and other urban places, Georgia is predominately a rural state. With the 20th highest adult and the 18th highest child obesity rates in the nation, rural Georgia needs design interventions that are sustainable, community supported and cost-effective. While better health outcomes through design is frequently touted for urban areas, research neglects design and planning for rural communities.
The College of Environment and Design at UGA is proud to announce that Professors Katherine Melcher and Alfie Vick have been accepted into the inaugural cohort of the Rural Engagement Faculty Workshop series sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President for Public Service and Outreach (PSO). The initiative connects academic faculty with rural research interests to public service faculty with community connections throughout Georgia.
Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, Sungkyung Lee [https://ced.uga.edu/directory/faculty_profiles/lee_sungkyung/], has been accepted into the 2021 cohort of the UGA Special Collections Libraries Faculty Fellows program.
College of Environment and Design Associate Professor Stephen Ramos received a Public Impact Grant from the Wilson Center for Humanities and Arts for his work with UGA Lamar Dodd School of Art Assistant Professor James A. Enos in support of the "Port Futures and Social Logistics" initiative in art and urbanism.
Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT), The Ray and the University of Georgia's College of Environment + Design (UGA CED) are pleased to announce Phase 2 of their meadow-research plantings on The Ray Highway, at the Exit 6 median alongside I-85's northbound lanes. The purpose of the research is to establish innovative uses that beautify and improve the utilization of Georgia's highway corridor.
Members of the CED are participating in two research teams as part of a 2021 cohort sponsored by the UGA Office of Research. In partnership with the Office of the Provost, competitive "pre-seed" funding was made available to stimulate collaboration around areas of need and to position faculty teams to be competitive for internal and external grants.
Karen A. Phillips, FASLA was awarded this year's 2021 Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) Medal, recognizing an expansive career in community development, public service, environmental design, urban planning, real estate, and revitalization.
Former College of Environment and Design (CED) Associate Professor and American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Fellow, Bruce Ferguson, has recently authored the book, A Philosophy of Landscape Construction, which outlines a new philosophy of values in landscape construction.