May 4, 2010

Joan Iverson Nassauer, a professor of Landscape Architecture in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, was named Distinguished Landscape Ecologist for her scientific contributions to the field by the U.S. Regional Association (national chapter) of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (US-IALE).  Professor Nassauer is the first person to be named both Distinguished Landscape Ecologist (2010) and Distinguished Practitioner of Landscape Ecology (1998) by the organization.

The Distinguished Landscape Ecologist award recognizes individuals whose thinking and writing have shaped the field of landscape ecology. "This award highlights those scholars whose scientific endeavors pervade our discipline and its continuing development," according to the US-IALE. It is given for outstanding scientific achievement over a decade or more, and it is the organization's most prestigious honor.

Professor Nassauer's work focuses on relating human landscape preferences to environmental health, and linking landscape science and practice. US-IALE noted that she is internationally renowned as a scholar of landscape architecture and of interdisciplinary research. The award was given in April at the association's annual meeting, held in Athens, Ga. The award's other recipient was Jianguo (Jingle) Wu, Dean's Distinguished Professor of Sustainability Science at Arizona State University.

Last year in a different award category, US-IALE gave her a second consecutive award for published research. She received honorable mentions for "Outstanding Paper in Landscape Ecology" the past two years. The papers appeared in Landscape Ecology, the journal of IALE.

In July 2009, Professor Nassauer was elected the first secretary of the National Academy of Environmental Design, which aims to reshape national research priorities to more fully incorporate sustainable design as a means of responding to pressing global challenges including climate change, species extinction and a wide range of epidemics and toxins affecting human health.

About Professor Nassauer
Professor is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architect; a Fellow of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture; Distinguished Practitioner of Landscape Ecology in the US; and Distinguished Scholar  by the International Association of Landscape Ecology. She focuses on the cultural sustainability of ecological design in human-dominated landscapes. Her research offers knowledge and strategies for basing ecological design on cultural insight, strong science and creative engagement with policy. Her teaching and recent projects apply this approach to brownfields, vacant property, exurban sprawl and agricultural landscapes.
http://www.snre.umich.edu/profile/nassauer

About the International Association of Landscape Ecology
IALE provides an infrastructure as a worldwide organization of landscape ecologists, which serves as a discussion platform and stimulates interaction across the disciplines
http://www.landscape-ecology.org/

About the School of Natural Resources and Environment
The School of Natural Resources and Environment's overarching objective is to contribute to the protection of the Earth's resources and the achievement of a sustainable society. Through research, teaching and outreach, faculty, staff and students are devoted to generating knowledge and developing policies, techniques and skills to help practitioners manage and conserve natural and environmental resources to meet the full range of human needs on a sustainable basis.
http://www.snre.umich.edu/