landscapes & climate change
Susan Ask
PhD Student in Landscape Architecture, with a graduate minor in European Union Studies
I am a doctoral student in landscape architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My research interests revolve around climate change, land use and nature conservation, including strategies that are called nature-based solutions. Specifically, I research the environmental impacts of historic and working landscapes. In addition, I research the role of landscapes in bird collisions with buildings
Interdisciplinary studies and collaboration have always been the core of my work on sustainability.
At the University, I teach an upper-level/graduate seminar in Sustainable Planning. I have also been a teaching assistant for several foundational courses in the landscape architecture curriculum, for undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, I work with the LEAM Lab on plans for climate action and nature conservation, in addition to analyzing carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions.
Previously, I worked as a university extension agent in Chicago, a conservation land manager in Maine, and a field ecologist in the mountains and the plains. I founded a sustainability-focused non-profit that combines science education with community engagement in Chicago and I am a member of the Chicago Wilderness Alliance, where I collaborate on climate action.
My formal training includes studies in ecosystem science and management at Yale University, where I earned an M.E.S. degree (from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, now called the School of the Environment). I also have a B.A. in environmental studies from the University of Kansas.
Research interests
- nature-based strategies for climate action
- climate planning at local and regional scales
- scenarios for natural and working landscapes that support biodiversity, community well-being and ecosystem services
- patterns of historical land use, especially in agricultural landscapes
- bird collisions with buildings and design-based mitigation strategies in built environments
- nature-based pedagogy
Classes taught
- Sustainable Planning Seminar
- Environmental Site Analysis
- Woody Landscape Plants
- Site Design Studio
- Introduction to Landscape Architecture
- Natural History of Illinois
Education
Ph.D. Student. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Landscape Architecture, with a graduate minor in European Union Studies. Expected 2026.
M.E.S. Yale University. Ecosystem Science and Management. 1999.
B.A. University of Kansas. Environmental Studies. 1991.