About Prof. May
Bio of Karen May
With a background in art, environmental studies, and political theory, Karen brings a diverse array of experiences to her work in landscape architecture practice and pedagogy.
Prior to her appointment at the University of Illinois, Karen worked as a landscape architect and practice lead in ecology at Plant Architect (6+ years) in Toronto, Ontario, as well as various environmental non-profits particularly around land-use policy and conservation (including the Greenbelt Foundation and Carolinian Canada Coalition). She also worked as a post-graduate Design and Research fellow at the Coastal Sustainability Studio at Louisiana State University. Her work at CSS included design leadership on the production of visualizations for public outreach materials, as well as for a permanent exhibit at the Center for River Studies in Baton Rouge on the topic of coastal land loss and environmental change in south Louisiana. She has also taught undergraduate studios in landscape representation, site and urban design, as well as seminars in history, theory, criticism and practice of landscape architecture.
Karen is also a member of the group Design Climate Action, an organization of allied professionals from various design disciplines (largely working in the Toronto area) committed to re-shaping the profession’s response to climate change.
Karen’s research and teaching interests range from urban ecology, landscape ecology, restoration and regenerative design, plants, planting design, and ethnobotany; climate adaptive design and resilience theory, climate and environmental justice; environmental narrative and the politics of spatial formation. Her experience in practice, teaching, and research includes planting and restoration, site and urban design, ecological design, landscape representation, mapping and visualization, as well as site-specific art installations.
Education
Certificate in Applied Digital Geography and GIS, Ryerson University, 2015
MLA, University of Toronto, 2011
Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Environment, and Gender Studies, University of Toronto, 2007
Certificate in Fine Art, Sheridan College, 2002