Student, Faculty & Alumni Profiles

Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Emma Nakpairat came to CAPLA and the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture program in Tucson to be inspired by the Sonoran Desert—and to combine her love of the outdoors with her thirst to improve the environment in which we live.

Laura Hollengreen, who has worked at CAPLA twice in her career, is researching theories of virtual and augmented reality to understand how some effects of digital media today were foreshadowed by immersive techniques in art and architecture of the past, especially medieval art, her area of expertise.

Carla A. Campos is a fourth-year architecture undergraduate student at UPC Lima in Peru. Through CAPLA’s innovative microcampus program, she’s also pursuing her BS in Sustainable Built Environments program at the University of Arizona.

Rich Michal came to CAPLA to study architecture after earning a bachelor's degree in construction engineering and management from Purdue University and an MBA from Indiana University. Seeking to learn more about sustainable design—and designing and constructing one of the nation’s most energy-efficient on-grid homes in the country as his master’s thesis—he pursued the B.Arch and M.Arch concurrently.

Zoe Sadorf, who is from the Southern Arizona city of Sierra Vista, entered CAPLA's Master of Architecture program after receiving her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Portland State University. Prior to joining CAPLA, she spent three years with a Portland, Oregon architecture firm.

Lisa Schrenk, who has visited over 85 countries and six continents in her travels, joined CAPLA in 2012 and incorporates her travel experience into courses on world architecture, the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and more. 

Isabelle Loh entered CAPLA's BS in SBE (Sustainable Communities Emphasis) after moving from Penang, Malaysia. “It’s a small island in the northern region of the country,” she says. “Fun fact: the island is only half the size of Tucson with almost double the population!”

Teresa Rosano, a partner in Ibarra Rosano Design Architects, joined CAPLA in 2011 and now teaches across the spectrum of the undergraduate and graduate architecture curriculum while continuing her practice and other passions, including martial arts.

Roy Noggle graduated from the University of Arizona’s Bachelor of Architecture program in 1967, where he was a member of the well-known “Safeway Class,” so named because the original architecture studio was held in an old Safeway grocery store on North Park Avenue.

Paola Ortez, who is from Tucson, entered CAPLA's BS in Sustainable Built Environments program (Sustainable Building Emphasis) following a series of unexpected physical and mental challenges, testing her but demonstrating her resilience and commitment to sustainability.

Bachelor of Architecture student Rafael Taiar, who is from the small city of Vinhedo in São Paulo, Brazil, came to CAPLA for what he knew would be a challenging and rewarding experience.

CAPLA student ambassador Lydia Roberts came to the Bachelor of Architecture program at the University of Arizona from Sierra Vista, Arizona, but has family across the globe.