The Western Planner organization has named CAPLA Associate Professor Ladd Keith its 2025 Planner of the Year, honoring his pioneering leadership in climate-responsive planning and community resilience across the American West.
CAPLA Dean Nancy Pollock-Ellwand has been named a recipient of the University of Guelph Alumni of Honour Award, recognizing her global leadership in cultural heritage conservation and lifelong dedication to education.
Professor P. Bryan Heidorn is the Associate Dean for Research for the College of Information Science. This talk is a bird’s-eye view of the AI and machine learning landscape and its implications for academia.
The College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture has awarded the 2025 Grassroots Seed Grants to three faculty-led projects that advance innovative teaching, research, and creative activity.
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.
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.
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.
Led by faculty member Teresa Rosano, the CAPLA Study Abroad program combined classroom learning with visits to cities like Rome, Florence, and Venice. Students explored historic and modern architecture, sketched and journaled on site, and immersed themselves in Italian culture.
CAPLA researchers are leading efforts to ensure community sustainability and equitable growth in Santa Cruz County as part of a university-led, cross-disciplinary study funded by South32.
Clare Robinson and Kelly Eitzen Smith are the 2025 recipients of the Darryl B. Dobras Awards for Excellence. Robinson was recognized for her leadership in the School of Architecture, while Eitzen Smith was honored for her work supporting accreditation and assessment in the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning.
The Drachman Institute recognized 28 community leaders nominated by CAPLA faculty for their outstanding collaboration and leadership across diverse organizations. These awardees represent a wide range of sectors, including local government, nonprofits, and tribal communities, highlighting the strong partnerships fostered through the Drachman Institute.
Housing affordability continues to be a critical issue in the United States. Meagan Ehlenz's research explores the potential for scaling shared equity homeownership (SEH) as a strategy to address Arizona’s growing housing affordability crisis.