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Archive for the ‘RESEARCH’ Category

PERRY CHAPMAN PRIZE

Posted in AWARDS, RESEARCH on July 10, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

If you have been considering doing a research project in planning and design—particularly if it’s related to how campus environments support institutional missions—there may be $10,000 out there with your name on it. Sasaki Associates has partnered with the Society for College and University Planning to offer the Perry Chapman Prize, named for M. Perry Chapman, who worked at Sasaki Associates for more than 45 years. He was considered to be the firm’s dean of campus planning.

Individuals, teams, and firms are encouraged to apply. The deadline is August 31, so get your submissions together soon.

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ARCHITECTS SQUEEZED

Posted in ECONOMICS, RESEARCH on June 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

The latest economic data from the American Institute of Architects is rather alarming. Its Architecture Billings Index shows architecture firms experienced “substantial” decreases in billable hours across all regions of the United States during the month of May. The index is derived from a panel of AIA member-owned firms that report whether their billings increased, decreased, or stayed the same in the previous month.

What these figures mean for the landscape architecture profession is all very murky. Architects are the second-largest client group for landscape architects. But the demand for buildings does not always correlate with the demand for landscape design and planning.

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OLMSTED SCHOLARS: THE NEW CLASS

Posted in AWARDS, EDUCATION, RESEARCH, SCHOOLS on May 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

And a lot of class, at that. The Landscape Architecture Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2012 National Olmsted Scholar awards. The top honor, with $25,000 attached, goes to Jack Ohly, Student ASLA, of the University of Pennsylvania. Four finalists receive $1,000 each. Find out who they are and also learn about the full class of scholars, each nominated by his or her program faculty, here. (Disclosure: I was a member of the jury this year.) (Further disclosure: It was very uplifting to read the submissions. Frederick Law Olmsted would be pleased.)

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IS YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD CONTAMINATED?

Posted in EPA, POLLUTION, RESEARCH, SOIL on April 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

USA Today has come out with an incredible report on long-forgotten “ghost factories,” where lead was processed before the Environmental Protection Agency was created. Following up on research by the environmental scientist William Eckel, reporters used old Sanborn Maps, directories, and historical photos to identify  more than 230 former lead factory sites around the country. They conducted hundreds of soil tests and found that many of the neighborhoods where these factories once existed have unsafe levels of lead in the upper layers of the soil.

The contamination is not limited to properties where smelting took place. Lead dust released from smokestacks blew into the surrounding neighborhoods, where it was supplemented by lead from paint and particles emitted from vehicles that burned leaded gasoline, creating a serious health threat for the young children who live and play there. (more…)

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QUICK, BEFORE THEY DISAPPEAR

Posted in CLIMATE, ECOLOGY, PLANTS, RESEARCH on April 23, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

In the alpine Himalayas, Jan Salick, a senior curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and a research team member study plants affected by climate change. Photo by Suresh Ghimire. Courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden.

A major announcement comes today from four of the world’s leading botanical gardens: By 2020, they plan to launch what is called the World Flora, an online database to compile information on 400,000 plant species worldwide. The collaborators are the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. When it’s up and running, the World Flora will fulfill one major goal of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, which was articulated by the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity in 2002 “to halt the continuing loss of plant biodiversity around the globe.” It’s an extremely exciting prospect. Read the full details here.

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TREE VALUE

Posted in RESEARCH on April 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

If I look to my right as I sit at my desk, I can see a midsized tree across the street. For the past 12 years, I’ve seen that tree turn gold in the fall, shed its leaves for the winter, then spring back with bright green buds in March that unfold, fill out, and deepen in color right about this time every year. So how much is that tree’s display worth? That tree, and other trees I can see if I look in another direction, increase my productivity as an employee to the tune of $3,000 a year, or so says a study cited in an article on GreenSource.

What seems difficult to quantify is nonetheless being tackled by scientists, who conclude that access to nature and views of nature not only make more productive employees, they shorten hospital stays, increase retail sales and home property values, and make people healthier.

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STUDENTS MAY BENEFIT FROM NATURAL VIEWS

Posted in ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, RESEARCH, SCHOOLS, VIEWS on April 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Wikipedia/Cassandra W

How do natural views affect student achievement? Shimon Zimbovsky, a very enthusiastic graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, is working on a long-term study of 36 schools to see whether replacing the barren landscapes surrounding the schools with vegetation will have any effect on students’ performance. His work, which he presented last Thursday at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture conference, was inspired by an earlier study by Rodney H. Matsuoka published in Landscape and Urban Planning (payment required).

Matsuoka examined 101 high schools in Michigan to see what role the presence of natural views played in students’ academic achievement and behavior. His analysis controlled for a number of factors, including socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, building age, and school size. According to the paper, “Views with greater quantities of trees and shrubs from cafeteria as well as classroom windows are positively associated with standardized test scores, graduation rates, percentages of students planning to attend a four-year college, and fewer occurrences of criminal behavior.” The opposite was also true. Where the views lacked trees and shrubs, where cafeterias and classrooms looked out over parking lots and large expanses of lawn, Matsuoka found lower levels of academic achievement.

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BIRD IS THE WORD

Posted in BIRDS, RESEARCH, WILDLIFE on March 8, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Courtesy Ken Thomas

Does the variety of species of birds in your backyard affect your house’s value? According to a report by researchers at Texas Tech University, it does, particularly if you have less common birds perching on your fence. The difference between the value of a house with one less common bird species (the researchers mentioned blue jays and kingbirds for the area of Lubbock, Texas, they were studying) and a house with two was $32,028. At least one attraction for birds is a varied ecosystem with different kinds of trees and shrubs.

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