Outreach and Engagement

We believe that understanding the connection between healthy landscapes and thriving communities is key to a sustainable future.

Whether you are a seasoned professional, an engaged citizen, or a student eager to learn, our education and outreach initiatives offer unique opportunities to explore the economic, environmental, and recreational elements of thoughtful landscape conservation planning. We are dedicated to developing the science that underpins this work and we’re committed to sharing that knowledge with you.

We work with partners to offer webinars and workshops specifically designed to help regional and city planners, developers, and the public understand the value of good urban planning and smart growth principles for maintaining Florida’s natural, agricultural, and recreational resources.

Image courtesy of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation

Our innovative Florida Ecological Greenways Network (FEGN) mapping tools provide essential information to planners, conservation professionals, policy makers, and everyday citizens alike empowering everyone to make informed planning and policy decisions.

We’re also dedicated to nurturing the next generation of environmental leaders, working closely with students at the University of Florida to teach environmental policy, design, and responsible planning practices.

Beyond the classroom, we create engaging exhibitions, interactive StoryMaps, and diverse programmatic events all designed to help communicate the science developed by the Center and its partners, and to help the general public and policy makers understand the importance of careful conservation and land use planning for a sustainable future.

Student Engagement

Our Commitment to Students and Furthering Education

The Center for Landscape Conservation Planning provides learning and partnership opportunities for students:

Center faculty lead classes and studio courses
BLA, MLA and PhD students are regularly hired to assist with Center project and research initiatives
Center faculty and staff serve as advisors, chairs and committee members for:
- Undergraduate Capstones
- Master’s Thesis Projects
- PhD Dissertations

“The US Forest service entered into a partnership agreement with the Center to engage their expertise in innovative, creative, sustainable concept designs for Ocala National Forest’s Springs. The final projects presented by the students were nothing short of inspired, and all met the mission goals of the agency. The power of working with the landscape architecture studios came from the faculty guiding the explorations of so many creative and highly trained student minds. The Forest Service was able to form an overall concept from the many inputs of the energized, creative and impassioned students. “

– Carrie Sekerak, District Ranger for USDA Forest Service, Ocala National Forest

Student Work at the Center

Ashley Pike and Rebekah Thompson at Cumberland Island National Seashore

The center recently completed a Trail Suitability Analysis in partnership with Cumberland Island National Seashore.

BLA students Ashley Pike and Rebekah Thompson, MLA, were hired by the Center to assist in the site analysis of Cumberland Island and the development of the suitability analysis and overall report.
Haoting Hong in St. Augustine

The center is currently collaborating with the UF Historic Preservation Department and Historic St. Augustine to develop a landscape assessment of multiple state-owned historic properties in the downtown St. Augustine corridor. The report explores resliency strategies for the historic landscapes that are informing landscale level adaptation strategies for specific cultural sites identified as threatened by sea level rise.

Haoting Hong, MLA, was hired by the center to assist with the development of the spring report and site analysis of the De Mesa Sanchez House.
Sal Stevens at Salt Springs, Ocala National Forest

The Center is involved in a multiple-year partnership with Ocala National Forest in Central Florida to develop recreation master plans for the several spring sites throughout the forest.

BLA student Sal Stevens developed a sustainable campground plan in partnership with the Center and Ocala National Forest. Sal’s plan explored solutions for challenges the Forest Service noted at Salt Springs regarding the visitor experience and ecosystem integrity at Salt Springs campground.

EXPLORE THE CAPSTONE PROJECT
Isabelle Hoppes: Corridor Communities Capstone

BLA student Isabella Hoppes explored a core center research initiative for her capstone project: how can communities in the state of Florida be designed in a way that is most compatible with the Florida Wildlife Corridor?
Emilio Zipf: Ranches and Corridors: The Last American Ocelots Capstone

Ocelots are striking, spotted, small cats associated with the jungles of South America. They once ranged across the southern United States. However, today there are two isolated subpopulations remaining in South Texas. These two populations, numbering about 80 induviduals combined, will inbreed to extinction unless they can be connected by a widlife corridor. This project identified existing suitable and potentially restorable habitat in the region. Then, with connectivity modeling and land use data, a practical corridor between habitats was actualized.

Emilio Zipf recieved the Award of Honor from the American Society of Landscape Architects – Florida Chapter for his capstone.

EXPLORE THE CAPSTONE PROJECT
Sebastian Hilpl: Florida Ranchlands Masters Thesis Project

Sebastian Hilpl, MLA, partnered with Blackbeard’s Ranch to explore the landscape architect’s role in deisgn, management and conservation of Florida’s Working Cattle Ranches. Blackbeard’s Ranch is a partner of the Center for Landscape Conservation Planning

EXPLORE THE THESIS PROJECT
Isabella Guttuso: A Future Florida Spring Experience Masters Thesis Project

Isabella Guttuso, MLA, partnered with the Center and Ocala National Forest to design transferrable strategies for sustianable spring recreation planning.

Isabella Guttuso recieved the Award of Honor from the American Society of Landscape Architects – Florida Chapter for her Thesis.

EXPLORE THE CAPSTONE PROJECT