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.

Blending local knowledge and science

NPS has a feature that looks at the ways that the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are responding to climate change. This quote sums it up well:

"Knowledge, once learned, cannot be taken away," Wagner said. Federal funds may completely disappear, he said, but "it's not going to take away the truth, and we have that knowledge now, and we will continue on our path to protect what's out there."

Wiki places: Uggubseni

Ukupseni or Uggubseni, also called Playón Chico - described as one of the most densely populated islands.

LAM in Hoboken

Landscape Architecture Magazine has a feature on the new OLIN park in Hoboken, Northwest ReslienCity Park. 

GIS History

Meagan Snow has posted a fabulous GIS history piece on the Library of Congress blogs, called SYMAPping the Puget Sound: Exploring Early Techniques in Computer Cartography. 

Tree planting at Rutgers

Exciting to see that a Rutgers landscape architecture and urban forestry project is getting attention. Read more about Josh Kover's project that got the community together to plant trees on a former road.   

FS

 Jim Pattiz has an update on the changes at the Forest Service at Hatch Mag.

bell hooks quote

“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”

― bell hooks

Ghostly aerials of an Iceland glacier

 After a fascinating Common Lecture today by Joyce Hsiang on glaciers and the cryosphere, I was surprised to see an amazing photo by Dani Guindo of an Icelandic glacier. The link can take you to a whole series of photos. 

Bill Nye on wetlands

 

Wetlands restoration video

 

Erosion can be fast

 The Grand Canyon might make you think that erosion happens slowly, but this video of gully erosion shows that it can happen fast too.

the world

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”

― E.B. White

Data Centers

 In New Brunswick they successfully fought against a new data center. Meanwhile in Louisiana, Governor Landry happily announced that three Amazon data centers were coming to Northeast Louisiana. Data Center Infrastructure is the  newest planning board version of the big box store or cell tower - the controversial topic that is loved and hated and poorly understood.

Not everything should go down the drain

 Someone noticed sludge in the Elizabeth River and called it in. Based on the coverage in NJ.com, it looks like someone might have by-passed the sanitary sewage system and released it into a storm sewer catch basin instead. The EPA is investigating.

Using the EPA WATERS tool, we can see what the path might look like:

Learn something

On Fridays this spring, OSU Center for Urban and Regional Analysis is hosting free webinars. Here are some topics worth watching for:

• Local Data, Local Impact: Community-Centered Research in Central Ohio
• What are child-friendly cities like, why do they matter, and how do we build them?
• Building Cities for Everyone: Disability-Forward Housing Futures
• Creating Age-Friendly Communities: Local Approaches from Practice, Policy, and Research

Topo Map from Culver's Gap NJ

 

USGS Topographic Quad Maps

After talking about USGS topographic quads for NJ in class, these might be useful ways to explore the language used throughout the US on these amazing maps.








A special thanks goes out to Mike Siegel and the Rutgers Cartography Lab.  This is a great resource for students and for pros.

Federal government shedding PhDs

Science reports that the US Government now has 10,000 fewer STEM PhDs than it did a year before. 

Updating Canada's Floodmaps

10% of all houses in Canada are in the floodplain, but the maps in Canada are out-of-date. It turns out that the question of whether they should update the maps to a more accurate outcome is being fiercely debated.

Nature's 10

A fascinating list of people worth knowing about: Nature's 10

Submarine Cables

Check out this impressive sequence of annual maps designed to tell the evolving story of submarine cables. It would be easy to think that everything has gone to microwave or satellite communications, but these maps show an incredible growth in cables AND do it gorgeously.

Wiki-Poundbury

England has a town, designed by architect John Simpson, that was started in 1993 and should be completed in 2028. With roughly 5,000 residents, Poundbury is an experiment in planning, design, and social engineering which has been built with support along the way from Prince/King Charles (who studied architecture in school).

Wiki-Otis elevating railway

 Otis Elevating Railway - a defunct funicular in the Catskills

Wiki-Spore Drive

Spore Drive - mushroom-inspired sci-fi propulsion system.

Wiki-ICD-11

ICD-11 is the International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision. It is a list of nearly 90,000 things that you could worry about. 

Wiki-Garret Hobart

Garret Hobart is a Rutgers graduate who experienced mild success.

Wiki-Edison Record

Edison Record - a very early record label. Closed abruptly in October 1929. 

Wiki - Calendar (New Style) Act 1750

Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 - Deleted 11 days from September 1752 in order to shift the calendar. Modified the calculation of the date for Easter.

Wiki-Catalan Vault

The Catalan Vault is a brickwork arch that allows more open ceilings. Maybe you have seen it in a Gilded Age house or Grand Central Station.

Bucranium

Bucranium - you have seen them but didn't know what they were called or how serious they were.

Wiki-George Wyllie

George Wyllie - described himself as a "scul?tor" because his works always asked questions.

Wiki-Fujiwhara effect

The Fujiwhara effect - when two cyclone circle each other. 

Things to think about...

Inside Higher Ed: 87 percent of Gen Z said they feel unprepared to succeed at work due to limited guidance, unclear paths to career from school and uncertainty about which skills matter most.

Wiki-Thenar

Thenar eminence is the mound formed at the base of the thumb.