Deadline to apply for S21 Undergraduate Research Assistantship positions

The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development has three Undergraduate Research Assistantships (URA’s) available for Summer 2021.  Please apply directly through Experience Guelph website by February 15.

1. Baker Street Public Realm Project.  Supervisor: Brendan Stewart, Assistant Professor

Outline of research project:  The Baker Street Public Realm Project (BSPRP) is a community-engaged research project that will develop design and programming strategies to animate public spaces within and adjacent to the Baker Street Redevelopment site in downtown Guelph around the themes of food and sustainability. The project is launching during the W21 semester, through LARC*6120 Community Design Studio, where MLA students will engage with partners within the City of Guelph, Windmill Developments and Urban Equation (the developers), DTAH and Diamond Schmidt Architects (the design and planning consultants) as well as a working group of local food NGOs and the downtown Guelph BIA, to develop strategies for the short-term (pre construction and during construction) and long-term (site operations) phases of the project.

During summer 2021, student work from the studio process will be packaged into a report and/or website (exact deliverable(s) TBD through engagement process) to be used for further community engagement and fundraising, and as a background document for LARC*3440 in the F21 semester. Under the direction Assistant Prof Steven Clarke, the BSPRP will continue into that course, where strategies will be further developed and refined toward the goal of implementing the strategies on site in summer of 2022.

The Baker Street Redevelopment project is a high profile city building project in Guelph, and the BSPRP is a significant opportunity for SEDRD students to gain valuable experience and be involved in shaping its implementation.

2. Data Collection and Survey Analysis of OALA Firms: Keeping Track of the Landscape Architecture Profession in Ontario.  Supervisor: Martin Holland, Assistant Professor

Outline of Proposed Research Project:  This research project solicits members of the OALA (Ontario Association of Landscape Architects) to evaluate a series of identified vital skill sets and required expertise through engaging with an online survey currently under review by the University’s Research Ethics Board. (REB) This data collection is critical for understanding landscape architecture’s contemporary practice, revealing professional firm’s disciplinary differences and demands, and providing indications of emergent skills and technologies required markets. This data is invaluable to ensure that the only undergraduate curriculum available for the study of Landscape Architecture within Canada remains informed by and reflects the current disciplinary demands of professional practice.

3. Representing Landscapes – Publication Assistant.  Supervisor: Nadia Amoroso, Assistant Professor

Outline of Research Project:  Student will be assisting the professor in the management, synthesis and composition of material for a research publication.