School of Landscape Architecture & Planning Rankings & Awards

Christopher Tucker, a lecturer in architecture at CAPLA, received the American Institute of Architects’ Design Pedagogy Award for his Abiotic Studio, a fourth-year course that challenges students to engage with ecological realities and reimagine post-industrial landscapes through more-than-human perspectives.

The Western Planner organization has named CAPLA Associate Professor Ladd Keith its 2025 Planner of the Year, honoring his pioneering leadership in climate-responsive planning and community resilience across the American West.

A team of Master of Science in Urban Planning (MSUP) students at CAPLA received the Arizona APA’s Best Student Planning Project Award for their capstone, “Community Investment Strategy Toolkit for the City of South Tucson.”

CAPLA Dean Nancy Pollock-Ellwand has been named a recipient of the University of Guelph Alumni of Honour Award, recognizing her global leadership in cultural heritage conservation and lifelong dedication to education.

A team led by CAPLA’s Sandra Bernal Cordova, Altaf Engineer, and Ladd Keith aim to develop community-centered solutions to the growing threat of extreme heat.

As Montse Estrany Bover graduates with a Master of Science in Architecture from CAPLA, she leaves with a prestigious research award for her thesis on Catalunya’s historic agricultural landscapes. Now working at an architecture firm in Spain, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. to continue blending research and practice.

More than 40 landscape architecture students were recognized for showcasing exceptional talent and innovation during the Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects Awards Gala & Expo.

An interdisciplinary team of faculty and students from the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA) and the College of Humanities has been named a finalist in the international 2024 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition.

Master of Landscape Architecture students Annalise Hummel, Christian Aguilar Murrieta and Cordell Lee were honored for highlighting the need for smart watering solutions to support tree planting as a cost-effective way to mitigate urban heat.

Lecturer Kenny Wong has been selected to join the 2024 cohort of the Academy for Public Scholarship on the Built Environment: Climate Action.

Gina Chorover, a senior lecturer in Planning and Landscape Architecture and faculty chair of the Heritage Conservation certificate program, and Teresa DeKoker, an alumna of the Master of Landscape Architecture program, were recognized for their comprehensive analysis of the Quitobaquito landscape within Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument with a Tucson - Pima County Historical Commission Historic Preservation Award in May.

An interdisciplinary team of undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Arizona College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture won the national 2024 Bank of America Low-Income Housing Challenge.