Student, Faculty & Alumni Profiles

Brendan Sullivan Shea joined CAPLA this fall as a visiting professor of architecture. His research, creative work and teaching focus on digital fabrication and desertification, while his advice to students is simple: if you can, travel.

Noémie Despland-Lichtert joined CAPLA this fall as our second Emerging Faculty Fellow. An accomplished teacher, researcher and practitioner, she spent the last year in Brussels and has also worked at Taliesin West, the Canadian Centre for Architecture and the Architecture Department of Getty Research Institute, among others.

Assistant Professor Atticus Jaramillo joined the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture this fall. His research focuses on housing and community development planning, with a particular focus on the housing-health connection.

Master of Landscape Architecture student and Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Built Environments alumnus Oscar Rodriguez Ponce was born in Navajoa, Sonora, Mexico, but brew up in Nogales, Sonora. In 2017 he moved to Rio Rico, Arizona, and has lived in Arizona ever since.

Ally Pearl Kwan came to UArizona from Cypress, California, choosing the B.Arch program because of the studio spaces and world-class Materials Labs. At CAPLA, Ally has become a student leader, joining the American Institute of Architecture Students Arizona chapter, where she was president and awarded the 2021 Chapter Leader Honor Award by the AIAS.

Ibeth Martinez came to UArizona from Guayaquil, Ecuador, where she studied architecture as an undergraduate student. She came to CAPLA to pursue the Master of Science in Architecture because of its research focus flexibility and the fact that it offers both studio and research courses.

Jacob Schaffer came to UArizona from Highland Park, Illinois, after his father, an alumnus, forwarded him information about CAPLA. The combination of sustainable built environments and real estate development piqued his interest, and he has been creating results ever since.

Danielle Breyton came to UArizona from Alamo, California. She fell in love with the university after touring campus and the city, but she wasn't always interested in attending college. At CAPLA, she has learned that the B.Arch program is much more than design: it's challenging and rewarding in multiple ways, and has prepared her for a dynamic career.

Talie Bonds is a UArizona Track and Field student athlete from Las Vegas, Nevada. Though her goal is to become a professional athlete, she also understands the value of preparing for life outside of athletics. This May, she graduates with her Master of Real Estate Development from CAPLA.

Ryan Meeks, a 2005 graduate of the Bachelor of Architecture program who grew up in Tucson and now lives in Denver, is the founder of Bosk, an urban design and architecture firm. In this interview, he offers keen insight on his B.Arch experience, lessons learned from his capstone project, what it means to start his own design firm, the best career advice he has received and more.

Erika Schmidt, who is originally from Maryland but grew up in Sahuarita, Arizona, graduated from CAPLA's BS in Sustainable Built Environments at the beginning of the pandemic. A sudden shift in career possibilities led her to enroll in the Master of Architecture program, but her passions for performance and design remain.

Sean Kramer-Lazar joined CAPLA in 2016, and now serves as a senior academic advisor, providing support for undergraduate students entering the BS Sustainable Built Environments (main campus and online) and Bachelor of Landscape Architecture programs. Learn more about Sean and his work and other passions in this profile.