Brian Orland—Links!

Professional Background and CV:

Director, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Penn State University. 2008-present

Research: Environmental perception of physical and manageable characteristics of the environment. Computer-based visualization in support of decision-making. Methodological studies in data visualization. Creating and evaluating high-quality virtual environments for rehearsing (describing and testing) interventions in urban and natural environments. Standards/expectations for visualization systems and data visualization techniques.

Education:

BA (Hons) Architecture, University of Manchester. June 1974.

BArch, University of Manchester. June 1976. Registered with Architects’ Registration Council of UK since 1977.

MLA, University of Arizona. August 1982.

Professional Background: A registered architect since 1977, he has worked in private practice in the United Kingdom, in Tanzania, East Africa and in El Salvador, Central America. Practicing initially in commercial development and subsidized housing, his experience in Tanzania and El Salvador focused on innovative solutions for low-cost and self-build housing systems, including the planning and development of neighborhood infrastructure. Practicing in landscape architecture and planning since 1981, his work has included consulting in tourism development, neighborhood planning, forest management and the application of computing in planning and design.

Teaching: He has taught design at undergraduate and graduate level, with particular emphasis on human-environment interactions. At the graduate level he has taught land resource evaluation and environmental perception. Much of his teaching from 1990-2000 took place in the context of the East St. Louis Action Research Project, a nationally acclaimed service learning program which engages students in partnerships with community residents and leaders to develop innovative planning and organizational responses to urban issues.

Study Abroad at Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania—Summer 2010

Udzungwa: The interface between national parks and adjoining human populations brings the competing demands of people and natural ecosystems into focus. On both sides of this fence, humans and other species seek to meet basic needs. In our school of design and planning, we educate students to be able to understand and resolve competing demands of nature and human development in the places where those issues are most pressing. At Udzungwa Mountains National Park in Tanzania, we have a unique opportunity to develop these skills in the context of rural villages adjacent to a protected part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, an area known as the Galapagos Islands of Africa because of the remarkable biological diversity it contains. Link to trip flyer

Additional links:

Learning at Udzungwa—why you should care

Udzungwa Visit Report – Gorenflo/Orland May 2009

Udzungwa Mountains National Park—Official Tanzania National Parks site

Official site of Udzungwa Mountains National Park

Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Centre—where we’ll stay

boo1@psu.edu, 814-865-6112 (ofc), 814-863-8137 (fax)