
The overall focus of my work concerns
the influence of social factors on the design of places. This focus
provides direction to my teaching, research, and service - all three
of which are linked in ways that strengthen each other. The basic
tenet that informs my work is that the designer's base of ideas -
and, consequently, the design itself - is enhanced when the values,
patterns, and activities of the community who will use a place are
understood and considered.
In particular, my research focuses on two areas -- adolescents and
the physical environment and community participation in design. My
research and design activities on adolescents include examining what
places teenagers
value and why, how they use places, how places can influence the
adults that teens become, public response to teenagers' use of place,
and how to design places to meet the needs of this specific age
group. My research and creative activities regarding community
participation include examining and developing public participation
strategies, applying these strategies to design projects, and
providing service-learning experiences for students.
Adolescents
Most recently, my research on adolescents has examined their
exclusion from public open spaces. This research was spurred by many
professionals telling me that they had been asked to design places so
teens would not use them. I have presented papers on this topic at
two international conferences, "Living at the Edge: An International
Conference of Young People and Social Exclusion," University of
Strathclyde, Scotland (1999), and "Metropolis: Cities, Social Life,
and Sustainable Development," Paris, France (2000). I also presented
my research results at the 1999 American Society of Landscape
Architects (ASLA) Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. My paper
on this subject, "No Teens Allowed: the exclusion of adolescents from
public space," is currently being reviewed for publication.
In addition, I have a forthcoming article in Urban Geography on
community skateboard parks. The article presents a multi-site case
study of three skateparks in California. The study includes
interviews with skateboarders and park administrators, and behavior
observations. The motivations behind the creation of skateparks, as
well as specific design recommendations are explored.
My research on adolescents and the physical environment also includes
a project I am conducting with researchers from six other states. The
project, a five-year longitudinal study, is examining resilience to
violence among youth. In particular, my component of the project is
to examine how the physical environment can facilitate resiliency.
For example, do the youth feel safe or unsafe in a place, do they
have places where they can go to be with friends, or do they have
control over their own rooms.
Community Participation
I teach graduate and undergraduate courses in community
participation. The courses are designed to provide students with
hands-on experience working with communities in the design
decision-making process. I have several recent publications drawn
from my community participation research and experience. My article,
"That Same Ole Participation," in Places challenges some of the
standard participation strategies and proposes areas that need to be
considered by design practitioners. In particular, demographic
changes to the US population and advances in communications
technology need to be addressed when developing participation
approaches. My paper, "Community Participation in a New Cultural
Context," was published in the 1997 ASLA Annual Meeting Proceedings.
The full version of this paper can be obtained by contacting the UC
Davis Center for Design Research.
I am also very concerned with providing service-learning
opportunities to students. To this end, I co-founded and serve as the
faculty director of Community Design & Planning Services, an
outreach program that provides design and research expertise to local
and regional organizations. I co-authored a paper, "Learning through
Service: The Community Design Studio," (College Teaching, 2000) which
examines opportunities for and challenges of involving students in
"real-world" projects during their education experience.
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EDUCATION: |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Institution |
No. of Years |
Degree/Date Granted |
|
University of Georgia |
5 |
BLA 1980 |
|
University of California, Berkeley |
2 |
MLA 1987 |
|
TEACHING EXPERIENCE: |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Institution |
No. of Years |
Subjects |
|
University of California, Davis |
10 |
Design, Technology, The Senior Project |
|
Virginia Polytechnic University |
3 |
Design, Technology, Community Participation in Design |
|
University of California, Berkeley (Part-time) |
4 |
Social & Psychological
Factors in Design, |
|
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Firm or Agency |
No. of Years |
Responsibilities |
|
Community Development
Planning |
1 |
Community Participation, Design & Design & Planning. |
|
Research and Design
Consultant |
4 |
Interviews for National Forest Service, design & project coordination. |
|
Uniform National Exam
Review |
3 |
Design Theory, Site Analysis & Planning, Site Design, Planting Design, History, Construction & Implementation |
|
The Delta Group |
3 |
Project Management, Design Generation &Documentation, Construction Supervision |
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PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION: |
|
|---|---|
|
Profession |
State |
|
Landscape Architect #122-E |
Delaware |
12/14/09