With its current emphasis on the interconnected elements of plant, people and environment coupled with community health, sustainability and resilience, the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture (PSLA) is a green and lively place for teaching, research and outreach.
Teaching shines
“The experienced, accomplished teachers are one of our bright spots in the department,” said Department Head and Professor Richard McAvoy. Faculty abilities are evident in the high marks students consistently give them on the Student Evaluation of Teaching forms. PSLA teachers have also won individual college, university, regional and national teaching awards.
The department is excited to have recently recruited two new faculty members in the landscape architecture (LA) program. The newest faculty, Sungmin Lee and Sohyun Park, work on community planning and design projects to promote healthy lifestyles and improve environmental sustainability. In total, the department has 24 tenure-track and non-tenure-track professionals who contribute to its teaching, research or outreach educational missions.
PSLA, which averages about 125 undergraduate and 25 graduate students, offers two majors. One is the nationally accredited, professional degree program in LA which offers a 4-year BSLA degree. This program was recently named one of the 10 Best LA Programs for 2018, partly for its focus on “a combination of research and real-world experience to equip students for careers in landscape architecture,” by The Best Colleges.
The LA faculty members also support graduate research.
The other major, which was recently redesigned, is sustainable plant and soil systems with concentrations in environmental horticulture, turfgrass science and sustainable agriculture. This major awards a four-year undergraduate BS degree; and MS and Ph.D. graduate degrees. The department also supports a two-year associate’s degree in plant science through the Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture.
