G. Mathias Kondolf, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair

The Department of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning has a rich heritage of providing educational experiences and cutting-edge research integrating the creation of compelling spaces with a concern for ecological integrity and social equity. With a multidisciplinary faculty with backgrounds in design, science, and planning, and drawing upon the rich resources of the Berkeley campus as a whole, the department offers degree programs for undergraduates, master's, and Ph.D. students, who pursue leadership positions in private design firms, public agencies, and non-profit organizations. Our graduates also hold teaching positions at leading institutions around the world.

This year, field study is again an important supplement to the classroom in courses requiring students to attend community meetings, stomp through streams, assess urban vegetation, visit construction sites, and sketch Bay Area landscapes. With the aid of research and endowment funds, our field studies have included projects throughout California and the U.S., Mexico, Egypt, France, Portugal, Thailand, and China. Our newest faculty member, Assistant Professor Karl Kullmann, has led the ecological factors studio in rethinking the waterfronts of Richmond (2009) and Walnut Creek (2010), California. The environmental planning studio has tackled restoration of the Los Angeles River (with Bill Wenk) and habitat planning for the endangered black-faced spoonbill in Japan and Korea (with emeriti Randy Hester and Marcia McNally).

In the workshop Reconnecting Cairo to the Nile (Professors Mozingo, Jewell, and Kondolf), seven Berkeley students worked closely with students and faculty from Cairo University and the American University in Cairo to develop plans for a continuous riverside trail and improved public access to the Nile in Cairo. They completed the workshop on 17 January 2011, leaving shortly before the city's widespread protests, but keeping in touch with their Egyptian friends on unfolding events.

Peruse our website for further information about our faculty, courses, and special events. If you have questions, use the listed email addresses to contact the Office of Undergraduate Advising; LAEP departmental staff, including Tony Tieu, our graduate student adviser; and/or individual faculty. We look forward to hearing from you.