About

Why Landscape Architecture?

Welcome to the Master of Landscape Architecture program! Landscape architecture is a specialized profession with an expansive and adaptable reach. Its science is grounded in ecological, cultural, and social analysis, from living systems like soils, hydrology, plant communities, habitat, and biodiversity to the experiential patterns that shape how people move through, gather, and find meaning in outdoor space. Its art is the creation of meaningful places. Its ethic is the stewardship of land and the people who live with it. As members of a STEM profession, landscape architects bring science and design together to create healthy, safe, and beautiful outdoor places for everyone.

Landscape architects design communities and environments that aim to be ecologically sound, functionally efficient, and preserve community values. They solve problems of development, protection, and restoration, often by working with natural processes to manage stormwater, reduce heat, improve water quality, and strengthen ecological resilience, while also shaping spaces that support daily life, well-being, and a strong sense of place. The contexts in which they work range from wilderness to city, and the scale ranges from a multi-state region to a garden or courtyard.

Developing Leaders in Landscape Architecture

Initiated in 1954, the University of Georgia’s Master of Landscape Architecture program is one of the oldest graduate landscape architecture programs in the country, with a long-standing commitment to developing leaders in the profession. With one of the largest full-time landscape architecture faculties nationwide, the program provides broad expertise and mentorship across a wide range of specializations, spanning people-environment relations and ecological systems. Allied disciplines within our college in environmental planning and historic preservation further strengthen a culture of design discussion. Within the context of a large and diverse school, small graduate classes foster a supportive environment for intellectual and social debate. Each year, the program selectively admits approximately 15 to 25 new students.

The UGA MLA builds the foundational knowledge, practical skills, and design expertise needed to lead in both public service and private practice. Through community-engaged, service-learning projects, students develop the knowledge, skills, and values required to advance the health, safety, and welfare of people, communities, and environments across Georgia. The program also encourages students to clarify and strengthen their own professional voice through inquiry and scholarship. Graduates are prepared to lead as outstanding practitioners, educators, and scholars in the planning, design, and management of the natural and built environment.

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The UGA Master of Landscape Architecture

Program Overview

The UGA Master of Landscape Architecture offers programs of study ranging from one and a half to three years, based on a student’s educational and professional background. The three-year track welcomes students from a wide range of undergraduate majors pursuing their first professional design degree. Students with prior degrees in architecture and landscape architecture typically enter the two-year track. Upon admission, each student receives individualized advising to align coursework and electives with their goals for advanced study. Limited funding is awarded annually, by semester, on a competitive basis. The MLA program is accredited by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB), and all program tracks are included in the accreditation.

Experiential and Specialized Learning

MLA students engage in experiential learning throughout their course of study in multiple ways. Faculty incorporate service-learning and community-based projects within design studios. Students also have options to study abroad during the summer months, and most complete at least one internship. Recent internships have taken students beyond the southeastern United States to locations including Colorado, California, Washington, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, India, and China. The college also has several graduate certificates that can be obtained to deepen expertise, including in Environmental Ethics, Historic Preservation Studies, and Cultural Landscape Conservation.

Thesis

All MLA students complete a final research or design project in their last year in the program, choosing either a research (thesis) or research-by-design (non-thesis/design thesis) approach. The thesis allows students to investigate their particular interests under the guidance of a major professor. Recent topics have examined sea level rise on the Georgia coast, mitigation of industrial landscapes, innovations in green infrastructure, urban food forests, environmental art for community engagement, redefining memorials to reimagine activism, and technology-based studies of how landscape design decisions shape experience and performance. The thesis culminates in either a knowledge application or design outcome grounded in the student’s research.

Connections

Each spring, the college hosts a career fair that brings professionals from across the country to interview students for internships and entry-level positions. An extensive alumni network also helps students build professional connections nationwide. Within the program, students benefit from a strong studio culture and close-knit community, with opportunities to get involved through Georgia Student Landscape Architects (GSLA), MLA Ambassadors, Peer-to-Peer Mentorship, and the Experience UGA outreach program. The college’s endowed lecture series brings distinguished scholars and practitioners in landscape architecture, urban planning, and historic preservation for major lectures and extended meetings with students. Recent speakers have included National ASLA President Kona Gray, geodesign expert Carl Steinitz, and critic and essayist Adam Gopnik.

Program Faculty

Cameron Berglund

Lecturer