Faculty Profiles

Nadia Amoroso

Nadia has always had a passion for fine arts, such as drawing and sketching, which later morphed in to design combining art and math. She was drawn to landscape architecture and all of its many possibilities, including the idea of being able to design and shape large outdoor spaces for the public to enjoy, such as waterfronts, plazas and other public spaces. Through her education she began working with different software programs and developed a passion for visual communication and data visualization.

2019-20 Notable Accomplishments

Invited by the ETH (The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), University of Zurich as an advisor to help establish a Master’s in Landscape Architecture Program Recipient of SSHRC Connection Grant, SHHRC-SIG Exchange and SSHRCSIG Explore Grant Secured an exhibition for selected MLA & BLA Students to display their work pertaining to creative mapping at the European Cultural Centre (ECC) in parallel with the Venice Biennale in Italy

Steven Clarke

Steven is a graduate of the Environmental Design and Landscape Architecture programs at the University of Manitoba, holding a Bachelor of Environmental Design and a Master of Landscape Architecture. A licensed landscape architect in British Columbia, Steven’s professional experience spans almost 25 years in design with a regional and global portfolio of projects in Canada, the United States, China, and Greece. His strength is his ability to bring diverse groups together to promote a shift towards regenerative and resilient communities through collaborative research, design, and action. Prior to joining the University of Guelph, he served as the Director of the UNLV Downtown Design Center (DDC) in Las Vegas, Nevada where he established the first multidisciplinary, grant-funded studio programme at the School of Architecture.

2019-20 Notable Accomplishments

Community Outreach Coordinator for the School of Environmental Design & Rural Development (SEDRD), University of Guelph Co-Applicant for a New Frontiers in Research Fund titled, Improving Live and Resilience Through Smart Food Transformations Leading a book chapter for Globally We Design (GloWD) titled, Design Education and Responsibility: Teaching the Values that Drive Leadership Presented at the GLoWD Forum in Johannesburg on Design Leadership alongside MLA student, Diego Alvarez

FACULTY PROFILES

Robert Corry

Dr. Corry teaches ecological principles for landscape design and his research investigates agricultural land conservation and reclamation of damaged lands for ecological and social consequences using principles and methods from landscape ecology. Dr. Corry is the director of the University’s Centre for Land & Water Stewardship. His publications range from assessing alternative landscape plans for ecological outcomes to informing agricultural policy to achieve multiple objectives.

2019-20 Notable Accomplishments

Named Interim Editor of Landscape Journal

2019-20 Publications

Brown, R.D. & Corry, R. (2020) Evidence-Based Landscape Architecture for Human Health and Well-Being. Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.3390/ su12041360

Swaffield, S. & Corry, R. (2019) Connecting business with the agricultural landscape: business strategies for sustainable rural development. Business Stratgey and the Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2320 Corry, R. (2019) How measures of agricultural landscape patterns are affected by crop rotation dynamics. Landscape Ecology Vol. 34.

Martin Holland

Martin’s scholarly interests lie at the intersection of landscape design, cultural studies and collective memory. He is particularly interested in how monuments, memorials and other sites of commemoration are used, managed and interpreted to guide, inform and influence, the public’s understanding of history and how it relates to the built environment.

FACULTY PROFILES

Sean Kelly

Sean Kelly’s specific interests include design-planning for places of destination, typically related to leisure and sport activities, especially those locations situated in mostly rural/remote and complex terrain (like mountains!). Sean is a ‘practice-focused’ instructor and tends to be involved in the instruction of skills & techniques development courses and activities attuned to securing ‘entry-level’ positions (for graduating students) in professional practice. He considers himself a “jack-of-all-trades” resource for students as he has successfully integrated three decades of practice with his academic involvement; this has afforded his participation on a diverse range of successful student projects and interests.

2019-20 Notable Accomplishments

Championed an award-winning student duo in the Brains & Brawn Design Challenge hosted by The Concussion Legacy Foundation of Canada Coordinated the hosting of the CSLA’s Reconciliation Advisory Committee lecture session on “Reconciliation, Learning, and Landscape Architecture” 2019 CELA Award for Outstanding Administrator Initiator & Advisor in OAC’S Honey Bee Research Centre design competition, ultimately resulting in a 2019 Award of Excellence Winner for the HBRC design concept

Karen Landman

Karen Landman’s passion for gardening from a young age led her to her academic interests and career in horticulture and landscape architecture, and eventually to planning and geography. Karen also focuses on urban agriculture as part of the Nourishing Communities research team. This group consists of an international, interdisciplinary team of researchers who conduct research on food systems from different disciplinary views.

2019-20 Notable Accomplishments

Co-authored chapter titled, Peri-urban Agricultural Policies in Canada and France for the Routledge Handbook of Comparative Rural Policy Co-authored Planning for the future? The emergence of shared visions for agriculture in the urban-influenced Ontario’s Greenbelt, Canada and Touluse International SCoT, France for the journal, Regional Environmental Change Attended 2019 International Federation of Landscape Architects conference in Oslo, Norway with Brendan Stewart to present research on plazaPOPS: Improving public amenity through the suburban strip-mall Supported MLA student, Kendra Cheeseman, for her poster presentation at the Ontario Public Health Association Fall Forum on Health & Climate Change (Kendra’s research is titled: Disability, Walks, and My Neighbourhood: experiencing the urban environment and climate change as a person with dysautonomia)

FACULTY PROFILES

Brendan Stewart

Throughout his years in practice, Brendan has been actively engaged in the academic, professional, and community spheres. He has been a regular guest lecturer, critic, and instructor at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, and was an editorial board member of Ground Magazine, the journal of the OALA. Brendan’s research focuses on heritage conservation planning and design processes, cultural landscape theory, design history, and service learning and participatory design practices.

2019-20 Notable Accomplishments

University of Guelph’s Appointed Educator on the OALA Council Serving on the board of Friends of Allan Gardens in Toronto, ON Co-led a grant funded design-research project, plazaPOPS, culminating in the installation of a pop-up public space in a strip-mall parking lot in Scarborough, ON in July & August of 2019 Attended 2019 International Federation of Landscape Architects conference in Oslo, Norway with Karen Landman to present research on plazaPOPS: Improving public amenity through the suburban strip-mall

RETIRING FACULTY

Nathan Perkins

I arrived in Guelph in July 1990 having spent the previous three years at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The transition from a sprawling campus with 50,000 students to a ten-minute walk from end to end and 12,000 student University was altogether pleasant. The landscape architecture building was without pretention and the students – all 140 of them, (320 or so now) – were engaging and warm. There was no internet yet, so letters, phone calls, sometimes email and walks to the library were a daily ritual. Looking back through the haze of decades, the pace seemed slower, yet, the hours were longer. There was still a ‘maker culture’ amongst students and faculty so there was often a physical product at the end of those long hours. And it was satisfying.

Proximity and sharing time with others created both the blessings and curses of a small community. Of all the changes that have occurred over the years, this would be the most significant and far-reaching to me. Perhaps using the metrics of business and productivity we have advanced, but the cost has been the conversion of all things into product. The process of interacting with others and creating, thinking, questioning, seem much less evident now in the rush and fleeting push to…what? Tweet, text and ‘opinionate’ I fear.

One of the most striking observations in my early years was how mature and learned and even worldly students were. Grade 13 really made a difference but some of that learnedness was the result of a slower pace that fostered discussion, digestion and thoughtfulness. The Italians who have so much to teach the world, have, I think, the answer in their slow food, slowdown approach to living. Landscape architecture has not been immune to the faster and broader (and subsequently shallower) pace, yet, it is not entirely our fault. Because external pressures to produce product do not encourage activities that only result in more thoughtful approaches to living life, we reap what we sow. I was counselled early on to be engaged in the University and community and I have worked on an astounding number of initiatives with really smart and motivated people. If I had advice worth giving it would be for students and professionals alike to get out of the classroom, get out of the office and serve, in any capacity, others.

Lest the above seem too bitter and not so sweet, I have spent my many years around bright and capable people. Almost all of the students I have spent time with remind me what a blessing it is to be young, uncertain and blissfully uncynical. Mostly because of them, I would like to believe I never took my job, my calling, for granted and that all my mistakes, boo boos and lapses were entirely my own. Own your fallibility, and humility, which is sorely lacking in many University professors, will always be your companion.

As I wrote elsewhere, I am looking forward to mid-day naps with the dogs (Mr. Boags and Brüne Hilda) and dinner at 5:30PM sharp. As Professor Jack Milliken, my mentor and friend, used to say, “keep the faith” and I’ll add, “be healthy and happy”.

- Nate (you can call me Dr., Professor , but don’t ever call me Nat) Perkins

RETIRING FACULTY

Larry Harder

The first LA course I ever taught at Guelph was in 1989. I finished teaching my last courses and advising all (but one) of my last grad students in May. I am retiring on September 1st 2020. That is 31 years! That is a long time. A REALLY long time. In those 31 years I have taught something like 1800 students. Classes are a lot larger than they used to be, which is a teaching challenge. What I have missed about the smaller classes is knowing – and remembering – each student by name and knowing something of their own story. What I regret about the big classes is that I don’t get to know names and stories so well. But the student body is also a lot more diverse than it used to be. And that is absolutely awesome!

I have taught somewhere in the order of 30 courses, some of which do not even exist anymore, from the diploma level to PhD examining committees. For many I have been the “history guy.” For others I will be Thought of as “the construction guy.” Others will remember me as the “ecological restoration guy.” Lots of undergrads will remember me as “that design guy who we had for too many courses in a row.”

I have taught with almost every faculty member who has taught in the LA program since 1989 – a pretty awesome bunch. Throw in a smattering of equally awesome planning and CDE faculty. I have worked with many of the sessionals, who are also awesome, and have often been intimidated by the depth and richness of their professional and academic experience. I have taught with people who were once my students. That happens when you are around long enough. That is awesome too!

I have often said that landscape architecture is like a three-legged stool: one leg is the environment, another is culture, and the third is design. Without all three legs, the stool falls down. None of these legs is unique to landscape architecture, but what IS unique is how landscape architects integrate them. Landscape architecture has a unique way of looking at the world. Landscape is a function of the interaction of environment and culture through the passage

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of time. Many of you have heard me say this often too. As landscape architects we have agency: we have the skills, knowledge and values of environment, culture and design to intervene in the landscape to make better places. That is our job. That is the really awesome thing about LA. I hope that this truth is the take-away from the lessons of history, the ecological restoration and land reclamation studios, the studios and MLA theses that have focused on issues of physical disabilities, mental health, gender, spiritual meaning in landscape, the experience of Indigenous peoples, the LGBTQ2IA+ community, habitat restoration, sea level rise, climate change, and others – and even the construction courses (you gotta build it!) Since 1989, the context for teaching LA has evolved and morphed with changing times, as the environmental emphasis shifts or deepens, or social concerns emerge or re-emerge, or the economy crashes and recovers. Each new student cohort brings new concerns and new ideas. The profession changes. But what remains constant is the determination to make the world a better place. If I have any legacy, I would like it to be that I have imparted the absolute certainty that landscape architecture can make a difference. I have been one instructor of many in the LA program. My hope is that those whom I have taught will integrate what they have learned, not just from me, but from other instructors and their own experience and insight and passions, and take what they know into the wider world. I have had the chance to take my personal conviction that LA can make a difference in the big human issues of our times by proving it in barrios in Central America and refugee camps in Lebanon and landscapes torn apart by environmental disaster or war. If there has been a consistent theme in my 31 years of teaching in Guelph, it is that absolute conviction that landscape architects can make a difference. I expect I will enjoy my retirement years watching you make a difference. You’ve got it! That’s awesome.

- Larry Harder