News

On July 12, the Biden administration announced that landscape architecture has been designated a STEM discipline, recognizing the high degree of science, technology, engineering and mathematics coursework required in landscape architecture collegiate programs. This new designation is expected to result in more young people being introduced to the profession and to allow programs such as the Spitzer School’s Master of Landscape Architecture program to recruit from a broader talent pool. Additionally, international MLA graduates may be eligible for U.S. work authorization for up to three years.

Thanks to this change, all of the Spitzer School’s design programs are now STEM eligible.

The designation follows a years-long advocacy effort spearheaded by the American Society of Landscape Architecture. City College collaborated with program leaders nationwide on a white paper, “Landscape Architecture Is a STEM Discipline,” that was key to the effort. This paper highlighted CCNY’s robot-assisted Ecological Laboratory for Urban Agriculture (ELUA)  as an example of how the profession uses innovative technologies to solve problems related to the natural and built environments.

Prof. Zihao Zhang, who directs the ELUA and is interim director of the MLA program, welcomed the news. “Our program’s approach to STEM is to advocate for landscape architects’ interactional expertise — the ability to converse expertly with other STEM fields and synthesize those scientific frameworks creatively in design. We engage with cutting-edge technologies and combine ideas in environmental and social sciences to design vibrant, resilient, equitable, and just urban ecosystems for all.”

[More information from ASLA]