LARC Faculty

We hope you will consider joining us in protecting and restoring sensitive and critical environments, and creating socially equitable, ecologically sustainable, and economically viable landscapes.

Our faculty have a wide variety of educational backgrounds (landscape architecture, art, biology, plant science, environmental planning, city and regional planning, and geography) and academic and professional experiences. Our collaborative scholarship, creative research, innovative teaching, and service reinforce an interdisciplinary and systems approach to design, planning, and management that are the hallmark of landscape architectural practice. We stress the importance of solving problems responsibly and imaginatively. The studio experience engages students in the process of creating comprehensive alternatives for real and hypothetical design interventions in cultural and natural landscapes.

People

Full-time Faculty

Faculty Contact information Research Focus
Dr. Chris Ellis

Christopher Ellis, Ph.D., PLA, ASLA
Professor

email: cdellis@umd.edu | room: PLS 2144 | phone: 301.405.7782

  • Landscape performance
  • Sustainable development
  • Landscape ecology
  • Environmental perception
  • Information technology for landscape planning and design
  Kelly Fleming, PLA, ASLA  
Dr. Byoung-Suk Kweon

Byoung-Suk Kweon, Ph.D., PLA 
Professor

email: kweonb@umd.edu | room: PLS 2140 | phone: 301.405.4341

  • Environmental behavior
  • Environment and health
  • School and children’s environments
  • Landscape performance
  • Environmental justice
  • Urban Agriculture
Dr. David Myers

David Myers, Ph.D., PLA, ASLA

Director and MLA Program Chair
Associate Professor

email: dnmyers@umd.edu | room: PLS 2146 | phone: 301.405.4350 | skype: david.myers.asla

  • Forest conservation
  • Landscape ecology
  • Green infrastructure and community greening
  • Greenway planning and design
Deni Ruggeri

Deni Ruggeri, Ph.D.

Associate Professor & BLA Program Chair

email: druggeri@umd.edu | room: PLS 2136 | phone: 301.405.0229

 

  • landscape democracy & right-to-landscape
  • community participation and co-design
  • place identity and attachment
  • engaged scholarship and pedagogy
  • social factors in urban design and livability 
  • Bottom up community development processes

Dr. Naomi Sachs

Naomi Sachs, Ph.D., MLA, AIA, EDAC

Assistant Professor

email: nsachs@umd.edu | room: PLS 2134 | phone: 301.405.1602

  • Landscapes for health
  • Healthcare design
  • Environmental justice
  • Cultural geography / cultural landscapes 
Mr. Jack Sullivan

Jack Sullivan, PLA, FASLA 

Associate Professor
email: jack@umd.edu | room: PLS 2142 | phone: 301.405.0106

  • Urban Landscapes
  • Garden History and Design
  • Landscape + Art
  • Service-Learning and Community Engagement

Affiliate & Graduate Faculty

Affiliate Faculty Contact Information Research Focus
Allen Davis

Allen Davis

Professor
email:apdavis@umd.edu | room: EGR 1151 | phone: 301.405.1958 

  • Water quality and physiochemical treatment processes
  • Urban storm water quality characterization and treatment
  • Fundamental and applied research on stormwater control measures
  • Development of media and designs for enhanced stormwater quality improvement
Peter May

Peter May         

Assistant Research Professor
email: pimay@umd.edu | room: ANS 1426 | phone: 301.405.1198

  • Ecosystem Ecology
  • Ecology and Natural Resource Management 
  • Carbon Management
David Tilley

David Tilley      

Associate Professor
email: dtilley@umd.edu | room: ANS 1421 | phone: 301.405.8027

  • Ecological Technology, Engineering, Design, & Modeling
  • Energy and water balance of living architecture
  • Green walls
Jana VanderGoot

Jana VanderGoot

Associate Professor

email: jvanderg@umd.edu | room: ARC 1206 | phone: 301. 405.4005

  • Urban development
  • Principles and methods of site analysis

Instructional Faculty

Lecturer Photo

Contact Information Research Focus
Ron Sessoms

Ron Sessoms, AICP

Lecturer

email: rsessom1@gmail.com 

  • Public Realm Design 
  • Community Master Planning
  • Equitable Development
  • Project Management
Image of Sherry Russel

Sherry Russell

Lecturer (LARC151)

email: slr2020@umd.edu

  • Landscape performance

  • Economic effects of community managed open spaces and parks

  • Practice business strategy
Tom Mateya

Tom Mateya

Lecturer (LARC265) & Director of Development at Toll Brothers

email: tmateya@umd.edu


 
 

John Wray Portrait

John Wray

Lecturer (LARC321 & LARC721); HOK

email: jwrayiv@umd.edu

 
Caren Yglesias

Caren Yglesias, Ph.D., AIA, Affil. ASLA

Lecturer (LARC263 & LARC470/670); Architect; author of the recent book, Desert Gardens of Steve Martino (Monacelli, 2018)

email: caren@umd.edu


 
 

Jueminsi Wu photo

Jueminsi Wu, Ph.D

Lecturer 

email:  jueminw@g.clemson.edu

  • Urban water resilience/green infrastructure data analysis

  • Landscape performance assessment

  • Adaptive urban design

Shihua Wang photo

Shihua Wang

Lecturer 

email: shihua@umd.edu 


 
  • Experience in city planning and site design

  • International experience in China, Korea and Middle East

  • Expertise in graphic illustration as well as layout and color design

Reza Mabadi photo

Reza Mabadi, Ph.D

Lecturer 

email: raymabadi@gmail.com

  • Healthcare design, environmental planning and sustainability, healing environments, design for public health
  • Sustainable campus planning
  • Revit Architecture, AutoCAD, InDesign, Sketchup and hand drawing
Colleen Vacelet

Colleen Vacelet, LEED AP, ASLA

Lecturer (LARC 160) & President of Intreegue 
email: cbathon@umd.edu

 

  • Sustainable Design
  • Planting Design
  • Building and landscape integration
Jessica Baker photo

Jessica Baker, PLA, ASLA

Lecturer

email: jessbaker302@gmail.com  


 
  • Multifamily, Campuses, Parks, Entertainment Districts, and Healthcare
  • 3D modeling and design technology 
  • Sustainable material selection 

 

Recent Visiting Lecturers

Recent Lecturers Contact Information Research Focus
Ann Anderson

Ann Anderson 

Lecturer with 20+ years of landscape architectural office practice specializing in graphic communication and planting design
email: aanders8@umd.edu 

   
James Westwater

James Westwater Ph.D

Lecturer (LARC489R, LARC620, LARC689C)

email: jamesw@umd.edu

  • Art + design

  • Land art

  • Conceptual art

  • Creative spaces

Brenda Iraola

Brenda Iraola, FASLA, PLA, CPSI, CPTED, MRPA

Lecturer (LARC 321)

University Email: biraola@umd.edu

  • Construction Methods & Materials for Landscape Architectural Design
  • Construction Bid Documents & Specifications
  • Project Management
  • Sustainable Design