Faculty
Travis Flohr, Ph.D.
I am an assistant professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Penn State University. I apply my Landscape Architecture (BLA, MSLA) and urban and regional planning (Ph.D.) training to collaboratively assist communities in creating a biodiverse and climate-resilient future. My broad research question is: how can communities and households adapt to or manage and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events and the degradation of ecosystems to ensure the continuation of mutually beneficial ecosystem services? I favor a mixed, spatial-methods research approach due to the inter-and intra-system complexities of humans, climate, weather, built environment, and ecosystems. This approach ensures I fully understand the spatial context, human and natural landscape patterns, and different dimensions of the issue(s) under analysis. My work covers three thematic areas: 1) ecology plus design, 2) geospatial design computing, and 3) design education and pedagogy. For more information about me, please visit tflohr.com.
Mehdi Heris, Ph.D.
I am an assistant professor in Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College. My broad research interest is connecting urban ecosystems and planning policies. I study how urban form regulations and planning procedures impact environmental qualities such as urban heat. I teach geospatial data analysis and urban form regulations and mentor students using GIS and programming for planning applications. I collaborate with city planners in multiple cities, including the City of New York, Denver, CO, and Cambridge, MA, to develop policies regarding heat mitigation and green infrastructure. My work has been published in Landscape and Urban Planning, Journal of Planning Education and Research, Scientific Data, Remote Sensing, Regional Studies, and Regional Science. For more information about me, please visit https://www.hunterurban.org/faculty/mehdi-pourpeikari-heris.
Current Students
Diana Albuja
I am a Ph.D. student in Ecology and a research and teaching assistant at Penn State University. I am an experienced forest ecologist with experience in entomological conservation projects. My work covers various ecosystems and has led me to focus my attention on management and practical approaches to nature conservation. In this way, I am currently interested in invasive plant species control techniques to improve forest restoration practices as a fundamental strategy for mitigating ecosystem degradation. As building environments increase, urban ecology challenges present a pragmatic perspective for the global environmental crisis.
Lara Garcia
I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of Architecture at Penn State. I have recently earned a Master of landscape architecture degree and a geodesign graduate certificate at Penn State. Upon completing my master's program, I practiced as a landscape designer at Mahan Rykiel Associates in Baltimore (MD). Previously, I earned a bachelor's degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from the University of Brasília (Brazil), during which the Brazilian government sponsored a year of my studies at MICA - Maryland Institute College of Art. At Penn State, I have worked as a teacher assistant for several LArch studios and interned for two turns at Esri, collaborating with the State and Local Government Services consulting team. For my Ph.D. research, I am interested in studying the impacts of extreme heat on vulnerable communities and investigating best practices to collect data and community input to create effective heat resilience adaptation plans.
Asteria Handayani
I am a visiting scholar at the Department of Landscape Architecture at Penn State University. As a Ph.D. student from the Department of Earth Science at Tohoku University, Japan, she has conducted a research collaboration with Dr. Travis Flohr for six months. She has a knowledge background in meteorology and human geography through her previous work, which helps her to further her topic into urban planning and design to comprehend a multidisciplinary set of skills and understanding. In a nutshell, my research is an adaptation of the geodesign framework for urban-induced extreme rainfall in a coastal urban agglomeration in Indonesia.
Collaborators
Michael Hinke
I am a GIS Consultant, Architect, and Leader with over 20 years of experience in federal, state, and local governments, academia, and the corporate world. I specialize in creating reliable and secure GIS systems for federal, state, and local governments and corporate environments. I offer solutions that range from public cloud to on-premises environments, please visit my LinkedIn profile.
Previous Faculty, Students, and Collaborators
Jonathan Berlin
I am a Masters of Landscape Architecture student at Penn State, I am interested in increasing biodiversity and ecological integrity in human-dominated landscapes. My current research focuses on the long-term performance of reforestation projects that mitigate the loss of forests to development, looking at trends in tree survival, invasive species, and spatial structure. Before returning to school, I worked for Rincon Consultants, analyzing the environmental impacts of projects in California. I also have a Masters of Environmental Science and Management from the University of California at Santa Barbara, specializing in conservation planning.
Samual Hunter
I am a Penn State Master of Landscape Architecture student. My research explores industry best practices and public policy related to the intersection of brownfield remediation and changing hydrologic conditions.
I have a professional background in construction management and outdoor leadership and hold a Bachelor of Arts in Design from Winona State University.
Maevlyn Stevens
I am a Master of Geographic Information Systems (MGIS) student in the Department of Geography at Penn State and the Director for Conservation Acquisitions at a Western Land Trust. I am interested in understanding the spatial components of Internal Revenue Code § 170(h) defined conservation purpose variables in a conservation easement context, and how this GIS data can best inform public policy and land protection as a means to combat climate change, biodiversity loss, shrinking open space and agricultural lands, increasingly overburdened public lands, and decreasing quality of life for present and future generations.
