Expertise

My research and teaching interests focus on how public space is invented or re-imagined and the innovative ideas, technologies, and policies that have transformed the urban landscape — in particular streets, sidewalks, and parks. Within this realm I investigate different but overlapping aspects such as night and lighting, public art, memory and commemoration, trees and the concept of nature, and spatial history. Most of my current work examines these subjects from a historical perspective.

Current research projects include: the history of nighttime and public street lighting; the evolution of the Boston Common from a utilitarian space to treasured park; American pleasure gardens, moving sidewalks, Cogswell fountains, and the cultural life of trees

Past Affiliations

Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, School of Arts and Sciences, Tufts University (past)

Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning, College of Architecture, Planning and Design, Kansas State University

Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, University of Texas at Austin (past)

Community and Regional Planning, University of Texas at Austin (past)

Communities
Landscape Architecture, City/Urban Planning
Degrees
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Planning, 2000
MCP, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995
MS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Architecture Studies, 1993
BArch, Carleton University, 1979
Keywords
regional planning or policy