Our mission is to do inspired work grounded in environmental and social good. Are you ready to join us?
In this research-focused degree, you team up with outstanding faculty across Penn State on a targeted research agenda that may range from developing an app for participatory resilient landscape design to studying the impact of socio-cultural context on environmentally responsive behavior. You and your adviser develop your topic and a tailored curricular path to meet your goals.
Students in this program have the opportunity to participate in sponsored research within our school’s centers, as well as in centers and institutes across the University.
Our M.S. program also offers opportunities to expand your education by earning a certificate in Geodesign or by pursuing a dual-title degree in landscape architecture and human dimensions of natural resources and the environment.
The M.S., which can be completed in two years, focuses on building expertise and research skills within a highly flexible curricular structure.
Our M.S. provides outstanding opportunities for students who already hold a professionally accredited degree in architecture or landscape architecture. If you seek to develop advanced expertise through rigorous scholarly inquiry, take advantage of the impressive range of experts and topical areas you can pursue at Penn State.
Within our inspiring, LEED Gold-rated building, students have access to a specialized Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library, 24-hour access to our own cutting-edge computer studios, as well as a permanent studio desk for each student. All of this plus the additional benefits of attending a Tier 1 research institution.
The M.S. in LA program provides opportunities to expand and focus studies through the dual-title M.S. in Landscape Architecture and Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and the Environment option, or by adding a graduate certificate in Geodesign.
Advanced undergraduate B.L.A. students can apply to integrate undergraduate and graduate courses of study, thereby earning a B.L.A. + M.S. in LA degrees.
The Department of Landscape Architecture and the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and the Environment (HDNRE) program offer a dual-title masters degree program in Landscape Architecture and HDNRE. The HDNRE program is a transdisciplinary, intercollege program that exposes students to issues including, but not limited to global climate change; sustainable energy, food, and fiber supplies; threats to biodiversity; water pollution and availability; genetic modification; and sustainable design.
The goal of the dual-title M.S. degree Landscape Architecture and Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and the Environment is to enable graduate students from Landscape Architecture to acquire the knowledge and skills of their major area of specialization in Landscape Architecture, while at the same time gaining the perspective and methods of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and the Environment.
For admission to the dual-title degree under this program, students must apply and be admitted to the graduate program in Landscape Architecture and The Graduate School before applying for admission to the dual-title degree program. After admission to the primary program, students must apply for admission to and meet the admissions requirements of the HDNRE dual-title program.
Students must satisfy the requirements of both the Landscape Architecture and the HDNRE programs. The student prepares one integrated thesis reflecting the student’s education and interest in both Landscape Architecture and HDNRE. The student’s thesis committee for the dual-title M.S. degree include at least one graduate faculty member from the HDNRE program.
Geodesign weds the analytical power of geographic information systems (GIS) with a robust design process to ensure land use design and planning that is socially, environmentally, and economically responsible.
The purpose of the graduate certificate in Geodesign is to provide students with a foundation in geospatially-oriented design through investigating interdisciplinary methods and the collaborative nature of the Geodesign process.
The integrated undergraduate-graduate (IUG) degree program (B.L.A. in Landscape Architecture + M.S. in Landscape Architecture) provides an opportunity for strong students in Penn State’s Landscape Architecture B.L.A. program to complete a master’s degree with 6 total years of study (the B.L.A. is a 5-year program).
The number of openings in the integrated B.L.A. + M.S. program is limited, and admission is selective.
Students currently enrolled in the M.S. in Landscape Architecture program.
Natalie Campbell
Research Focus: Artful rainwater in theme park design
Academic Adviser: Stuart Echols
[email protected]
Jessica Fegly
Research Focus: Green stormwater infrastructure
Academic Adviser: Stuart Echols
[email protected]
Julia Traub
Research Focus: Effective design of schoolyards to improve cognitive development design
Academic Adviser: Stephen Mainzer
[email protected] | Personal website
Make the most of your time at Penn State exploring the opportunities.
A collaborative research and teaching studio-lab focused on developing and testing innovative computational design techniques.
The Hamer Center explores three key topical areas: design/build, community-based research, and public interest design.
A collaborative of designers and ecologists who undertake research activated design intervention that improves the ecological health of the designed world.
Awarded as available on a competitive, semester-by-semester basis.
RAs are frequently available from our research centers or individual faculty on a competitive basis, as are grants-in-aid and graduate fellowships.
Fellowship opportunities exist both within Penn State and through external funding agencies.
Focused on advancing the future of design within the community and the profession.
Student branch of the National Organization of Minority Architects
Officially recognized by the University as the collective voice of the graduate and professional student body.
Demetrios Staurinos, RLA, ASLA, is an associate at OLIN, a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with studios in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Demetrios has received awards from, among others, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Planning Association, and the American Institute of Architects and American Public Works Association. He is driven to improve the built environment by embellishing the “happy accidents” that occur when a thoughtful design meets the playful interactions of daily life.
Hong Wu is leading a team of interdisciplinary researchers in the development of a living laboratory for green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) research, education, and innovation at Penn State thanks to funding through the University’s Strategic Plan Seed Grant program. With partners from the Colleges of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Sustainability Institute, Office of the Physical Plant, Institutes of Energy and the Environment, Penn State Harrisburg, and the Borough of State College, it is Wu’s vision to position Penn State as a national leader in GSI by building a campus community with the capacity to implement long-term cost-effective solutions to water quality and quantity. She is key member of the E+D (Ecology + Design) emerging research center and an elected member of Penn State’s Water Council.
UNIVERSTY PARK, Pa. — Due to lingering concerns surrounding the COVID-19 virus and its variants, Penn State’s 2021 Architecture and Landscape Architecture Summer Camp will be held remotely – from
