Name: Laura Musacchio

Title: Associate Professor

Contact Information:
University of Minnesota
Department of Landscape Architecture
89 Church St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612-626-0810 (phone)
musac003@umn.edu

Research Interest:
The purpose of my own work is to create a richer, deeper, and more complex knowledge base about the ecology, design, and sustainability of metropolitan landscapes, which I conceptualize to include not only urban land, but any land that supports the life in the cities, including rural and recreational lands. Recent examples of my contributions include my co-authored book, Designing Small Parks: A Manual for Addressing Social and Ecological Concerns, and the Ecology and Design of Metropolitan Landscapes Symposium.

My research focuses on the development of new cultural and ecological theories about the patterns of environmental heterogeneity in human-dominated environments. For example, I often use landscape models with geographic information systems (GIS) to test alternative hypotheses for how human-created urban and agricultural patterns affect ecosystem health and services, such as wildlife habitat, water quality, visual quality, and recreational access. Through my scientific investigations, I seek to contribute to new knowledge and innovations for the development of sustainable communities and landscapes. My research projects include Restoration in the City Project (Dayton Hudson Faculty Fellowship), Conservation Design in the Midwest, Small Parks Project, Rio Alamar Urban River Restoration Project (Tijuana, Mexico), Phoenix Urban Floodplain Project, and Rice Prairies Project.

Additional Information:
Web page