The ASLA Fund Awards Virginia Tech a National Competitive Research Grant

Focus is on Inland Flooding Solutions Designed by Landscape Architects

Left: Dr. Jenn Engelke; Right: Betsy Painter

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, has announced a team at Virginia Tech School of Design - Jenn Engelke, ASLA, PhD, PLA, assistant professor of landscape architecture, and Betsy Painter, graduate student - have been awarded a $15,000 national competitive research grant to investigate landscape architecture solutions to inland flooding.

The grant awardees will outline evidence of the benefits of landscape architecture solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises. The research will be published on ASLA.org and openly accessible in spring 2027.

Dr. Engelke and Painter will explore landscape architecture strategies that are most effective at reducing inland flooding. They will identify planning and design approaches that have demonstrated flood reduction benefits while also sequestering carbon, improving water quality, increasing biodiversity, and reducing heat impacts.

"Inland flooding affects more communities across the U.S. and worldwide each year. These floods lead to the loss of lives, livelihoods, and property. This research will help the landscape architecture community make the strongest case possible to policymakers, community groups, allied professionals, and the public that nature-based approaches are valuable options to address this complex problem," said ASLA President Brad McCauley, FASLA, PLA.

"Inland flooding is a growing challenge, and landscape architects have an essential role to play in shaping resilient, forward-looking design solutions. We will explore innovative approaches and develop practical, usable resources that can support landscape architects and communities," Dr. Engelke said.

"As communities face accelerating climate pressures, it is important to translate research on nature-based solutions into accessible language that can inform policy, strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, and support a more resilient relationship between people and water," Painter said.

The goals of the research review is to:

• Understand and summarize the current state of knowledge.
• Synthesize the research literature and provide insights, leveraging key science-based evidence.
• Create accessible executive summaries for policymakers, community advocates, and practicing landscape architects.

About the Grant Awardees

Jenn Engelke, PhD, PLA, ASLA, is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on innovative green infrastructure solutions and the development of learning landscapes. She teaches courses on green infrastructure construction and ecological design.

Jenn earned a PhD in the Built Environment from the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle. At UW, she was a member of the Green Futures Lab, contributing to the design, construction, and monitoring of constructed floating wetlands intended to support juvenile salmon habitat in Seattle. She has a Master's of Landscape Architecture degree from Kansas State University. Jenn is also a licensed landscape architect and has practiced in Austin, Texas, and Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, her work included native shoreline restoration, erosion control, and floodplain restoration projects.

Betsy Painter is a graduate student in landscape architecture at Virginia Tech focused on stream restoration, floodplain ecology, and riparian design. Drawing on her background in conservation biology and environmental communication, her work examines nature-based solutions and innovative forms of landscape representation that reveal overlooked ecological processes, like wetland and microbial systems.

She holds a master's degree in religion and ecology from Yale University, where she explored themes and authored books about the restoration and renewal of the natural world in biblical and religious thought.

About the Grant Process

The national competitive grant for inland flooding received four research proposals from U.S. universities.

The ASLA Fund thanks the selection and review panel for their contributions selecting the grant awardees and peer-reviewing the research:

• Dr. James A. LaGro, Jr., PhD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, College of Letters & Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Madison, and Editor-in-Chief, Landscape Journal
• Mary Pat McGuire, ASLA, PLA, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Dean's Fellow for Research, College of Fine & Applied Arts, The University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
• Ashley Steffens, ASLA, FCELA, Vice President, Education, American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and Crowley Professor in Urban Planning and Design and Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Student Affairs, College of Environment + Design, University of Georgia
• Dr. Bo Yang, FASLA, PLA, PhD, AICP, Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Landscape Architecture and Planning, The University of Arizona