School of Landscape Architecture & Planning News & Headlines

The Arizona Alumni Association has named Heather Henricks Lenkin ’79 B.Arch as its 2020-2021 Alumna of the Year for the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. Heather was chosen for her outstanding career success, passionate work to protect the world’s cultural resources and unwavering support of the university.

UArizona graduate Richard K. Underwood, who passed away on October 3, 2021, was a long-time friend of CAPLA and the university. Through his professional and extracurricular work, Richard and AAA Landscaping (the company he built with his brother Bob in 1975) supported CAPLA in many ways, including the Underwood Family Sonoran Landscape Laboratory.

Courtney Crosson is a licensed architect and assistant professor at the University of Arizona, where she teaches classes on water in the built environment and community outreach studios.

Since 2017, GLHN Architects & Engineers has sponsored and provided technical advising on four architecture studios designed to craft a more sustainable Tucson by the year 2050. This year, the focus turns to urban food systems.

By implementing six guiding principles, researchers and decision-makers will not only address heat inequities but also create coordinated metrics and plans to adequately address extreme heat risks.

Jie Hu, clinical professor of landscape architecture and chair of the Master of Sustainable Urban Design program at the University of Illinois, joins us for the CAPLA Lecture Series to discuss Shan-Shui City principles.

Assistant Professor of Planning and Sustainable Built Environments Ladd Keith recently published two editorials in important national and international publications. With UArizona Professor of Geography Andrea K. Gerlak he authored “There’s no place in the US safe from the heat” in The Hill, and with ASU Assistant Professor of Geography Sara Meerow he authored “Cities must plan for heat resilience now,” published by Reuters.

Ash Avila, a Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Built Environments student from Nogales, Arizona, who will graduate in 2023, has been awarded an acclaimed Transportation Research Board (TRB) Minority Student Fellowship for 2022. Avila is one of 24 students selected by TRB.

School of Landscape Architecture and Planning Assessment Coordinator Kelly Eitzen Smith, who also serves as project coordinator for the Native Peoples Technical Assistance Office, helped create and launch the new Native American Advancement, Initiatives and Research (NAAIR) web portal.

wall-EIFS, a robotically applied, 3D-sprayable exterior insulation and finish system for building envelope retrofits, is one of 10 finalist prize winners of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Envelope Retrofit Opportunities for Building Optimization Technologies Prize, or E-ROBOT Prize.

Altaf Engineer and Esther Sternberg, two CAPLA professors who study how work and living spaces affect physical and mental health, say the pandemic has forced employers to think about how office spaces can reduce employees' stress and enhance their wellbeing.

Robert Vint, assistant professor of practice in architecture at CAPLA, was profiled in the Summer 2021 issue of Preservation Magazine for his conservation work on San Xavier del Bac, the landmark “White Dove of the Desert” mission located south of Tucson, Arizona.