Become a Landscape Architect
Landscape Architecture: A STEM Profession
Landscape Architecture is a STEM Discipline
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has designated landscape architecture a STEM discipline.
The designation recognizes the high degree of science, technology,
engineering and mathematics course work required in landscape
architecture collegiate programs.
What is STEM?
The National Science Foundation (NSF)
definition of STEM fields includes mathematics, natural sciences,
engineering, computer and information sciences, and the social and
behavioral sciences – psychology, economics, sociology, and political
science.
STEM education and training provides the United States with three kinds of intellectual capital:
- Scientists and engineers who continue the research and development that is central to the economic growth of our country;
- Technologically proficient workers who are able to keep pace with rapidly developing scientific and engineering innovations; and
- Scientifically literate voters and citizens who make intelligent decisions about public policy and who understand the world around them.
To achieve this expanded human capital, STEM initiatives are aimed at improving the educational experience from elementary school to graduate education, and thus prepare students to eventually solve not only current problems but also unimagined ones of the future. (UC Davis, STEM Strategies)
“The term STEM
education refers to teaching
and learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It typically
includes educational activities across all grade levels—from pre-school
to post-doctorate—in both formal (e.g., classrooms) and
informal (e.g., afterschool programs) settings.” (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education: An Overview [National Science Foundation (NSF)/Congressional Research Service, June 12, 2018])
Resources You Can Use
These resources will help you understand and communicate valuable information about landscape architecture as a STEM profession.
K-12 STEM Outreach
Richard Jones, ASLA, past president of Mahan Rykiel Associates leads unique partnership with Francis Scott Key Middle School to support the school's STEM-based environmental education curriculum with Project Birdland.