LARP Faculty Present Research during Landscape Architecture Conference

Carolina Aragón
Carolina Aragón

A group of landscape architecture and regional planning faculty presented research during the annual Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) conference March 22-24 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Carolina Aragón, assistant professor of landscape architecture, presented “Energy Gardening: Photoluminescent Applications for Landscape Architecture,” which examines photoluminescent, or glow-in-the-dark, materials that absorb ultraviolet light during daylight and emit visible light once it is dark. Aragón’s paper points out that the advantages of the materials go beyond reducing electricity usage—also minimizing light pollution and allowing for the enhanced and increased use of outdoor spaces at night.

Elizabeth Brabec, professor of landscape architecture and regional planning, presented a paper co-authored with regional planning doctoral student Sean O’Donnell titled “The Role of Heritage in Displacement and Community Resilience.” The researchers analyzed the creation of outdoor spaces, as well as their role in community resilience, in the Jordanian Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps, housing primarily Syrians who fled their country’s civil war to Jordan. The paper adds to researchers’ comprehension of how refugees evolve in their approach to place-making from displacement to emplacement. Brabec is also on the CELA board of directors.

Theodore Eisenman, assistant professor of landscape architecture, presented “Urban Ecosystem Services: A Critical Review.” Eisenman’s research examines three areas pertaining to the concept of urban ecosystem services: definitions, conflation of ecosystem functions with ecosystem services, and interdisciplinary gaps in research on the concept.

Read more about LARP faculty and their expertise, by visiting their profiles here.

CELA comprises more than 120 institutions from the U.S., and internationally including Canada, Europe, the Middle East, China and Australia. Its mission is “to encourage, support and further education in the field of landscape architecture specifically related to teaching, research, scholarship and public service.”