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WE ARE BECOMING AWARE

OF OURSELVES...

My passion is grounded in ecological urbanism and landscape ecology which are interdisciplinary fields that use diverse frameworks for understanding built and natural landscapes.

Ecology begins as the vision of a better world – it is often an abstract idea of the interrelations that are often unclear and must be made concrete and visible. Technology places ecologies within motion. My designs serve to bring awareness in the realisation of abstract ideas – in our case nature, ecology, and culture.

Details

My career has focused on having a positive impact in our built environment. My academic career includes degrees in Landscape Architecture and Ecological Planning: a Master’s from the University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources and Environment and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, College of Humanities and Social Science. 

 

A licensed Landscape Architect, I have practiced for nearly 20 years with firms such as Hargreaves Associates, EDAW, CRJA, and Charles Anderson Atelier before serving as the Sumer M. Margetts Endowed Professor of Landscape Architecture. I have led and completed numerous internationally recognized and award winning projects such as the Olympic Sculpture Park.

 

I was the Developer and Director of UC Berkeley Extension’s Sustainable Environmental Design & Stewardship Program as well as Director of the Green Space Institute and Executive Director of the non-profit 501-c-3 Center for Green Infrastructure Design. I am currently Director of the interdisciplinary Green Infrastructure Performance Lab at Dalhousie University in Canada focussing on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Current issues at the forefront of my thought and artistic exploration ask how does the spatial pattern of urbanization in our expanding metropolitan areas affect ecological health and human experience ?

Education

The University of Edinburgh  Edinburgh, Scotland

PhD, Doctor of Philosophy by Research  2018

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Dissertation : The eco-spatial benefits of green infrastructure: Examining landscape fragmentation                             within interstitial peri-urban green spaces and its impacts upon human wellbeing

The University of Michigan  Ann Arbor, MI

MLA, Masters of Landscape Architecture 1992

Horace A. Rackham School of Graduate Studies

School of Natural Resources & Environment

Thesis : Grand Island National Recreation Area: A Master and Management Plan

The University of Connecticut  Storrs, CT

BSLA, Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture  1990

College of Natural Resources

Awards : Distinguished Graduate;  CT Garden Club Scholarship; Student CT-ASLA Honor Award

Continuing Education 

Statistical Literacy - SCOIL07001 (2012)

Postgraduate Research Methods - CACE11001 (2012)

Introduction to Research Design - EDPS 6030 (2010)

Interpreting Research - PRT 6550 (2010)

Environmental Ethics - HUM 6900 (2009)

Introduction to GIS - GEOG 3140 (2009)

Successfully concluded modules

Research Administration Training Series (RATS) - Research Investigator Certificate

     University of Utah (2010)   

Developing Green : Integrating Sustainability with Success

     Urban Land Institute (2009)

Landscape Ecology in Theory and Practice: Application to the Study and Management of Forests

     United States Forest Service (2008)

Green Infrastructure - Land Conservation Workshop

     The Conservation Fund (2008)

Academic Experience

        Assistant Professor

        Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences

        Landscape Architecture 

        Director, The Green Infrastructure Performance lab

        Dalhousie University, Canada   2018 -

        Assistant Lecturer

        Department of Landscape Architecture

        School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture

        The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh UK    2013 - 2015

 

        Adjunct Professor

        Department of City and Metropolitan Planning

        College of Architecture + Planning

         University of Utah  Salt Lake City UT    2008 - 2012

        The Sumner S. Margetts Swaner Professor of Landscape Architecture

        Endowed Professorship 

        Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

        College of Humanities and Social Sciences

        Utah State University  Logan UT  2007 - 2008

         Focus : Green Infrastructure Planning and Design

         Research : How Community Values Shape Spatial Planning Methodologies    

       Director, The Green Space Institute

        Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

        Utah State University  Logan UT  2007 - 2008 

         Research : Sustainable Growth and Open Space Conservation            

        Program Director

        Sustainable Environmental Design and Stewardship Program

        Department of Landscape Architecture

        University of California at Berkeley - Extension  Berkeley CA   2005 - 2007

 

        Monitored and oversaw the program sequence. Review instructor's qualifications

        and course material. Marketed the program.  Participated in program review and

        budget meetings. Coordinated guest lectures and partnerships.  Community        

        outreach and participated in local events representing the program.


      

Publications
academic journals / conference proceedings

Birbeck, D., et al., 2014

Space to Park: What Works Where

Research Partnership and Knowledge Exchange funded by the Arts & Humanities Council 

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) President’s Awards for Outstanding University-located Research (Nominated)

LeBrasseur, Richard, 2013

Synthesising An Integrated Green Infrastructure: Establishing a Conceptual Planning Framework in Urbanising Communities

Fábos Conference Proceedings on Landscape and Greenway Planning:

Pathways to Sustainability

LeBrasseur, Richard, 2013

Towards An Inclusive Green Infrastructure – Acknowledging Comprehensive Values in Urbanising Landscapes

ECLAS Conference Proceedings

Christine Sorensen, ed. Hamburg. HafenCity University

Pollock et al. 2007

Growing the Profession - A White Paper

ASLA Council on Education - April 2007

Publications
peer reviewed

LeBrasseur, Richard

“Why Nova Scotia has to take environmental racism seriously”

The Conversation - March 2020 

LeBrasseur, Rick 

"Going Dutch - Recognition and Reconversion of the American Landscape"

Urban Land - June 2007

LeBrasseur, Rick 

"Reconnecting with Nature"

Utah Planner - April 2007

LeBrasseur, Rick 

"Ecological Services - Utilizing the Urban Landscape"

Northern California Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects 

NCC-ASLA Newsletter 2006

LeBrasseur, Rick

"Everyday Nature - An Analysis and Requiem for Open Spaces in San Francisco"

SPUR Newsletter 2006

LeBrasseur, Rick 

"Pio Pico State Historic Park - A Cultural Landscape Reinterpretation"

Landscape Architecture Magazine - June 2004

LeBrasseur, Rick 

"Sedate Formalism Denies the City's Rich Urban Context"

Landscape Architecture Magazine - Perspective - Union Square, December 2003

LeBrasseur, Rick 

"Sublime Neglect - Halprin's Water Garden After 30 Years"

Landscape Architecture Magazine - Critic at Large, July 2003

LeBrasseur, Rick 

"Landscapes of Connection : Assessing the Olmsted Influence at 100 Years"

Washington Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects

LeBrasseur, Rick 

"Land Matters"

Landscape Architecture Magazine - April 2002

le Brasseur, Richard

"The Nature of Humans impacting the Nature of Humans"

Landscape+Urbanism - April 2016

Keynote Speeches

Valuing Green Infrastructure

Keynote Conference Presentation - Utah APA Spring Conference

March 2009

Remapping Intellectual Spaces

UC Davis Humanities Institute, Keynote Speaker

4th Annual Intermountain Graduate Conference

April 2008

Enhancing Connectivity to the Natural Landscape in the Designed Environment

WASLA Fall Conference and Expo, Keynote Address Speaker

October 2002

Conferences
Invited Lectures
Panels

Digital review sessions: An assessment of digital tablets within the design review & desk critique

Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA)

Transform: Socially Embedded Collaboration

February 2020

Helsinki’s Fragmented Landscapes: Enhancing Human Well-Being Through Eco-Spatial Planning

What happens next?

Nordic Research Network

February 2015

Systems Thinking and the City: An eco-spatial methodological approach to recognising service infrastructures

All-Ireland Architecture Research Group

January 2015

Reconnecting Urbanisations: Transitional Landscapes and Service Infrastructures

Urban Forestry in Transition – Addressing the Needs of Changing Societies

Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia

October 2013

Entropic Urbanisms

Future Connections: Pushing the Boundaries of Sustainable Development

The University of Edinburgh, UK

June 2013

The Spectrum of Interrelationships : Achieving Sustainable Development

through the Integration of Socio-Ecological Systems

International Conference on “Changing Cities”: Spatial, Morphological & Socio-economic Dimensions

University of Thessaly, Greece

June 2013

Towards An Inclusive Green Infrastructure:

Promoting Ecosystem Services in the United Kingdom's Urbanising Communities

Facing the Future - Exploring Challenges and Opportunities in Environmental Change Research

The University of Dundee, Scotland

April 2013

Integrated Green Infrastructure: Augmenting the Conceptual Spatial Planning Framework

SEMINARERUM: ECA Post Graduate Research Conference

The University of Edinburgh, Scotland

November 2012

Green Infrastructure Planning: Connecting Partners and Greenspaces

Planning for Growth and Open Space Conservation

The United States Forest Service (USFS)

June 2012

Salt Lake County Watershed Symposium

Panel Member (1 of 3)

September 2011

Integrating Sustainable Urbanism into a Green Infrastructure Network

International Low Impact Development Conference

Redefining Water in the City

April 2010

Stewards of the Landscape : Reconnecting Children to the Natural Environment

Montana State University - Landscape Architecture Department

May 2009

Green Infrastructure Planning for Sustainable Urbanism

US International Association for Landscape Ecology (US-IALE) 

Coupling Humans and Complex Ecological Landscapes

April 2009

Building Connections : Uniting Landscapes and Communities through Green Infrastructure

18th Annual Utah Society for Environmental Education Conference

September 2008

Making Life Better : Open Space Planning and Sustainable Communities

101st Annual Utah League of Cities and Towns Conference

September 2008

Safeguarding Green Infrastructure - Building Bridges Among Land Trusts,

Local Government Policy, & Public Vision

9th Annual Southwest Land Trust Alliance Conference

June 2008

Land Use Planning to Protect Open Space

Utah League of Cities and Towns

June 2008

Green Infrastructure : Linking Landscapes and Communities

Wasatch Front Regional Council

May 2008

Practicing Sustainably in the 21st Century

Lecture - NCC/ASLA Host Meeting

ASLA Annual Meeting, San Francisco CA

October 2007

Sustainable Environmental Design & Stewardship

Lecture - SPUR Lecture Series

January 2007

Research Funding
Grants

       

        SSHRC Explorer Grant 

        Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Dalhousie University, 2019

        Green Infrastructure Communities Initiative

        $6,700 

 

        Academic Innovation Grant 

        Dalhousie University, 2019

        Digital Design Feedback: Enhancing the Design Process thru Contextual Feedback

        $2,400 

 

        Research Development Fund (RDF)

        Dalhousie University, 2018

        Green Infrastructure Performance Lab

        $30,000

        Devolved Researcher Grant 

        Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture 

        University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 2014

        $1,200

 

        George S. And Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation

        The Wasatch Front Green Infrastructure Network Plan

        The Center for Green Infrastructure Design, 2009 - 2012

        $75,000

 

        JEPS Foundation

        Utah Green Communities Initiative

        The Green Space Institute, 2008 - 2009 

        $5,000

 

        George S. And Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation

        Green Communities Education Project

        The Center for Green Infrastructure Design, 2008 - 2009

        $40,000

        

        US Environmental Protection Agency

        Community Based Asset Mapping

        The Center for Green Infrastructure Design, 2007

        $15,000

Curriculum Development

        Program Developer and Program Director

        Sustainable Environmental Design and Stewardship Program

        Department of Landscape Architecture, College of Art and Design

        University of California at Berkeley - Extension  Berkeley CA    2005

 

        Developed a 10 course curriculum which focused on a sustainable approach to the

        design of our built environment.  The Program taught the intricacies and responsibilities

        of sustainable design and the student gained expertise in the emergent ecological      

        practices and principles as applied to local,  regional, and international environmental

        design.  Key technical, ethical, and aesthetic aspects of sustainable design were

        addressed.

 

        Original Curriculum Content Courses

        Sustainability in the Built Environment:

                 Conscious Landscape Architecture for the 21st Century         

       Ecologically Based Site Planning & Design:

                 An Integrative Approach to Design within the Natural Environment 

        Urban Ecology: Designing Environments with Systems

        Green Infrastructure Planning & Design: Connecting Landscapes and Communities    

        Landscape Hydrology, Site Development & Water Resources

        Sustainable Construction: Methods and Materials

        Site Rehabilitation and Brownfield Restoration

        Ecological Factors in Plant Selection & Design 

Academic Service

        Faculty Council Representative - College of Agriculture

        LA Program Communication and Outreach, Director

        CSLA Accreditation Committee

        International Articulations Committee, Director

        CSLA Faculty Liason

        Dalhousie University, Landscape Architecture Program, 2018-

      

         Master’s Thesis Committee

        Lindsay Winkler, Utah State University, 2008

        Jang Y. Chin, Utah State University, 2007

        

        Senior Honor’s Project

        Douglas Herrenbee, Shawn Trubador, Alison Meander

        Utah State University, 2007

   

        Curriculum Review Committee

        Professorship Search Committee

        LAEP Advisory Board

       Utah State University, 2007-2008

 

        ASLA Council on Education  2006 - 2008

    

         Student ASLA Faculty Liaison  

        Dalhousie University, 2018 -

        Utah State University, 2007-2008

        UC Berkeley Extension, 2004-2007

        

        ASLA Student Award Advisor  

        Utah State University, 2007-2008

        UC Berkeley Extension, 2004-2007

 

        LEED - ND : LEED for Neighborhood Development

        US Green Building Council

        Committee Member, Pilot Program Advisor 

Affiliations

        APALA - Antlantic Provinces Association of Landscape Architects

        ECLAS - European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools 

        AESOP - Association of European Schools of Planning, Young Academics

        LE:NOTRE - Thematic Network Project in Landscape Architecture

        LI - Landscape Institute

        ASLA - American Society of Landscape Architects  Member 1996 - 2008

        CELA - Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture  Member 2007 - 2010
        CLARB - Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards
        EDRA - Environmental Design Research Association
        AHRA - Architectural Humanities Research Association

        TCLF - The Cultural Landscape Foundation  Contributor 2003 - 2005

        SPUR - San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association  Member 2004 - 2007    

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