Faculty Research & Creative Scholarship

The essential research of the CAPLA faculty goes well beyond the fields of design, development, planning and sustainability to the core of how we can live better lives in the built environment.

Faculty research solves problems, impacts decisions and shapes policy. Read our CAPLA faculty research stories:

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Lecture Recap and Video: Kirk Dimond on 'A Photovoltaic Green Roof'

Kirk Dimond, assistant professor of landscape architecture at the University of Arizona, joins us for the CAPLA Lecture Series on the topic of "A Photovoltaic Green Roof." View the video from Dimond's October 22, 2021 presentation. 

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Abstract architectural view on UArizona campus

‘Performative Environments’ Spark Insight and Activism at International Conference Hosted by UArizona School of Architecture

Though the ARCC 2021 international conference hosted by CAPLA was held during the pandemic—and therefore online instead of on campus as originally planned—the gathering of many of the world’s most provocative built environment researchers was a resounding success.

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Adriana Zuniga

Exploring Human-Landscape Connections: Adriana Zuniga ’10 MS Arch, Assistant Research Scientist

Assistant Research Scientist Adriana Zuniga came to CAPLA from Mexico in 2008 to pursue her MS Architecture degree. Since then, she has also earned a PhD in Arid Lands Resources Sciences and has taught and conducted research on human-landscape connections at CAPLA since 2015.

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Ladd Keith

CAPLA Professor Ladd Keith on the Imperative of Planning for Heat Resilience

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.

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Ash Avila

Meet Ash Avila ’23 BS SBE, 2022 Transportation Research Board Minority Student Fellow

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.

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wall-EIFS

UArizona Team Led by Architecture Professor Jonathan Bean and Engineering Professor Wolfgang Fink Wins $200,000 ‘American-Made Challenge’ E-ROBOT Prize

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.

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Cyclist in car traffic

CAPLA Urban Planning Professors Awarded $150,000 in NITC Research Grants

Philip Stoker received a grant from the National Institute for Transportation and Communities to study rural gentrification and the spillover effect while Ladd Keith, Kristina Currans and Nicole Iroz-Elardo received an NITC grant to study cool corridor heat resilience strategies for human-scale transportation.