Projects & Other Work

CAPLA faculty, students and alumni create projects and other work that are wide-ranging and far-reaching—always with an eye towards a more sustainable built environment.

View summaries and image galleries of this dynamic work:

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Parking Day Group Photo

CAPLA Students take on Park(ing) Day 2025

CAPLA students brought creativity and design thinking to global Park(ing) Day on Sept. 19 at Main Gate Square, transforming a parking space into a vibrant public installation themed “Curb the Power: Micro Acts of Civil Joy.” Led by Master of Landscape Architecture student Esmeralda Carrasco, the project featured colorful ground painting, desert-adapted plants, and flexible seating to reimagine urban streets as safer, greener, and more welcoming spaces. Partnering with the City of Tucson and community organizations, students demonstrated how small-scale interventions can spark conversations about design, equity, and the future of Tucson’s streets.

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Old Main

Master of Landscape Architecture students lead sustainability research

CAPLA Master of Landscape Architecture students Ashley Danforth and Xavier Fernandez are leading a $45,000 grant-funded project to advance sustainable stormwater solutions on campus. Through research, collaboration, and community outreach, their work will create a campus-wide database of green stormwater infrastructure to help address challenges like drought and extreme heat.

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Ladd Keith

Ladd Keith appointed to Governor Hobbs' Workplace Heat Safety Task Force

Ladd Keith, director of the University of Arizona’s Heat Resilience Initiative and a leading national expert on heat planning, has been appointed to Governor Katie Hobbs’ new Workplace Heat Safety Task Force. In this role, he will help develop science-based, equitable guidelines to protect Arizona’s workers from the growing risks of extreme heat.

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Esmeralda

Leadership in Full Bloom: Esmeralda Rubi Carrasco ‘26 MLA

Esmeralda Rubi Carrasco, Class of 2026, is pursuing a Master of Landscape Architecture at CAPLA after earning her Doctor of Business from Grand Canyon University. Inspired by her family’s garden center, Ponderosa Cactus, she’s passionate about plant-forward, community-rooted design that honors the Sonoran Desert.

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Soleil Lemons

Shining in SBE: Soleil Lemons ‘26 SBE

Soleil Lemons, Class of 2026, is studying Sustainable Built Environments after transferring into CAPLA her sophomore year. Drawn to planning and design, she’s passionate about creating spaces that are functional, thoughtful, and community-oriented. This summer, Soleil is interning at Yellowstone Landscape, gaining hands-on experience in project coordination and design operations, an experience that has inspired her to pursue a Master’s in Urban Planning and a career as a project manager.