David Robinson

The retirement of David Robinson is a huge loss for Rutgers and NJ, but I am happy for him nonetheless. 

New Climate site

Much of the data and information from Climate.gov has now migrated to Climate.us including the resilience toolkit and the maps.

This week, the map of interest might be the map hottest days in history. Note: New Brunswick hit 105.1 in 2010.

Levels of agency

From a discussion of the different levels of agency at Swiss Miss:

“There are two kinds of people after dinner:

Those who ask, “Can I help?”

And those who are already doing the dishes.

One sounds helpful.

One is.

This plays out on every team every day. Don’t wait for permission. Do the dishes”

Urban patterns

Architect Abhinav Bhardwaj has posted some great images on Instagram that illustrate the differences between coarse and fine urban development patterns. While I might quibble with the accuracy of the labels (American vs. European), I think the illustrations are certainly useful in distinguishing between different eras and approaches.

Interestingly, the Streetlife Design Competition has been posted with opportunities that include students and young professionals. 

GPN MAC in AC

The GPN Mid-Atlantic Conference will be in Atlantic City in October 2026 - registration is open. GPN, the Geospatial Professional Network, is the former URISA and the Mid-Atlantic Conference is a popular chance to find out what is happening in our region.

A highly ranked program

Rutgers is a Top 20 landscape architecture program. While it isn't a surprise, it is nice to see that College Factual agrees, as they list RULA as #16. It also says that the MLA program is Top 10 in the country. 

While their methods are not clear, it is easy to understand that the Rutgers Landscape Architecture program is exceptional, as it tackles big problems and produces innovative work and methods. At the undergraduate level, the LA program is intertwined with an Environmental Planning degree. Students in the BSLA and MLA programs are also integrated with the Environmental Geomatics program and have incredible opportunities to learn about GIS, geospatial technologies and drones at the Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis.

Rutgers Landscape Architecture is within the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS). This context provides easy access to other sciences - soils, ecology, environmental and social sciences - for both faculty and students. Not only is this a unique context and unparalleled source of expertise, but it also helps build multidisciplinary experience, which is an essential element in contemporary landscape architecture. 

Another reason that the program stands out is that the faculty include prolific researchers and scholars experienced designers. Multiple faculty have recently published important books while others demonstrate their impact through papers and funded research. These faculty often bring their scholarship into the studio, especially in the Praxis Studios. The department's community engagement makes it a leader within Rutgers and ASLA. The program's innovative faculty regularly publish research in urban forestry, spatial dimensions of human health, and landscapes of food. 

Located halfway between New York City and Philadelphia, the Rutgers Landscape Architecture program benefits from professional exposure, office visits, and easy travel to some of the most important new built-works in the country. Job placement is remarkably strong, with alumni being prominent in leading offices around the country. The program has also benefited from a grant supporting student placement in National Park offices, which has increased public sector opportunities for students and alumni. 

This is an exciting program increasingly known for swinging big and embracing innovation. No wonder it is featured in these rankings.

Links

 As a small personal bit of news, I have set up a LinkTree.