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:
The Role of Building Emissions in Meeting Climate Change Goals: Architecture Professor Jonathan Bean Interviewed by KJZZ
Jonathan Bean was interviewed by KJZZ Radio regarding the role of building emissions in meeting climate change goals, noting that if we want to get to a zero carbon future by 2050, we must cut emissions from buildings in half by 2030.
CAPLA Assistant Research Scientist Adriana Zuniga and Fellow Researchers Win Best Paper Award from Water International
Adriana Zuniga has been awarded the 2018 Water International Best Paper Award. The editors of Water International choose the winners in three-year cycles, recently naming the 2018, 2019 and 2020 awardees, who will be honored in Korea in December 2021.
Urban Planning Professor Arthur C. Nelson Discusses Bus Rapid Transit Investment in The Washington Post
Arthur C. Nelson, professor of urban planning and real estate development, was quoted in a July 23, 2021 article in The Washington Post on rapid transit and urban growth, referencing a study conducted by Nelson and other UArizona researchers on bus rapid transit sites from 2013-2019.
CAPLA-led Research Team Awarded $150K NOAA Grant to Help American Communities Better Plan for Heat Mitigation
To help bridge government disparate efforts, Ladd Keith is leading an effort called Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard for Heat, or PIRSH, that has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the NOAA Climate Program Office, under its Extreme Heat Risk Initiative.
Keeping Homes and Cities Cool in Extreme Heat
Planning and Sustainable Built Environments Assistant Professor Ladd Keith, an expert on urban planning and climate change, offers tips to keep your home cool during a heat wave, and discusses how and why cities across the country are doing more to become heat resilient.
Assistant Professor Jonathan Bean Named 2021 CUES Distinguished Fellow for ‘Climate Heroes’ Curriculum
Architecture and Sustainable Built Environments Assistant Professor Jonathan Bean has been named one of four 2021 CUES Distinguished Fellows by UArizona’s Center for University Education Scholarship. His project, Climate Heroes: Transforming the Built Environment, addresses the fundamental challenge of our time: climate change.
Planning and Sustainable Built Environments Professor Ladd Keith Discusses Heat’s Inequitable Impact on Low-Income and Communities of Color in The Washington Post
“Heat is the number-one weather-related killer,” says Ladd Keith in The Washington Post article, “Heat and Smog Hit Low-Income Communities and People of Color Hardest, Scientists Say,” published on May 25, 2021.
Sustainable Design Expert: The Building You're Sitting in is the Elephant in the Room
Assistant Professor of Architecture, Sustainable Built Environments and Marketing Jonathan Bean says buildings are the No. 1 pathway to achieving the Biden administration's new carbon emissions goals. He's training the next generation of architects, and with the College of Engineering creating the Climate-Positive Building Lab, to make climate-positive buildings the new normal.
UArizona Awarded IDEAS Grant from U.S. Department of State's Capacity Building Program for U.S. Study Abroad
The grant, which includes Lecturer of Architecture Sandra Bernal-Cordova, will expand the Navigating Education in Borderlands Program (NEBP), a program through which UArizona students can build cultural competencies and learn about the history, people and culture from the intersecting borderlands area.
Architectural History Professor Lisa D. Schrenk Publishes Critically Acclaimed Book on the Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright
The Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright by Lisa D. Schrenk offers the first comprehensive look at the early independent office and career of one of the world’s most influential architects.
Planning Professor Philip Stoker on How an Infrastructure Bill Can Help Rural Communities in the West
In an article by Deseret News examining possible impacts of an infrastructure bill in the rural West, Philip Stoker speaks to elements contained in President Biden's proposed infrastructure bill, including “soft infrastructure” such as housing.
Sustainable Built Environments Faculty Provide Insight on New Study of Urban Heat Disparities in Tucson and Other Western Cities
New research on neighborhood-by-neighborhood heat differences across Tucson—and 19 other cities in the West—has garnered additional insight by Assistant Professor of Planning and Sustainable Built Environments Ladd Keith and Assistant Research Scientist Adriana Zuniga.