Kimberlee Douglas, RLA, ASLA, LEED, GA

CERTIFICATIONS

Professor Kim Douglas is the Director of the Landscape Architecture Program at Thomas Jefferson University and the Director of the Lab for Urban and Social Innovation.  Both the Lab and her program strive for equitable and sustainable design through hands-on learning projects.  She believes all communities have the right to an ecologically, socially, and econically healthy environment.

In 2016 she was awarded the Anton Germinshuizen Stantec Term Chair in landscape architecture which allows her to continue her research on the effects of contact with nature on communities. Her research includes the acclaimed Park in a Truck project that provides a DIY open-source system that makes it easy for communities to design, build and maintain beautiful, green, low-cost public spaces for healthy, sustainable living. Kim also worked on the Pollinator Network in southwest Philadelphia which will increase habitat and green space as well as a Robert Wood Johnson fellowship grant that is researching the mental health effects of the Park in a Truck Ambassasor program on 11-13-year-old teens. 

Kim is a licensed landscape architect and founding principal of STUDIO GAEA, an award-winning landscape architectural firm. Her many awards include Cynwyd Heritage Trail in Bala Cynwyd, PA, a rehabilitated brownfield rail corridor and the Linwood Avenue Park Plan in Ardmore, PA an innovative sustainable design for a neighborhood park.  

Professor Douglas shares her experience in the field of landscape architecture by her involvement in many teaching and volunteer organizations.  She regularly visits high schools to talk about the importance of the profession of landscape architecture, works with the Community Design Collaborative and ACE Mentor Program.  She was recently awarded the ASLA’s National Community Service Award that recognizes pro bono service to the community.

AWARDS

Provost Award for Applied Research, 2024
ACE Greater Philadelphia Community Volunteer of the Year, 2022
TJU Philanthropy Award, 2021 
Park in a Truck Project - People’s Choice, Green Building United, Groundbreaker Award, 2021
ASLA National Community Service Award, 2020
Provost Team Award for Interdisciplinary Education, 2020
Fast Company Award for Social Good, 2020
The Lindback Awards for Distinguished Teaching, 2018
Linwood Park, Excellence in GSI Award, Sustainability Business Network, 2018
Anton Germishuizen-Stantec Term Chair for Landscape Architecture, 2016
PA State Scoop Award for State Innovation of the Year (co-awardee), 2014
Philadelphia University Nexus Learning Award, 2014
Community Design Award for Conceptual Master Plan Nebinger School, 2012
Montgomery Award for Cynwyd Heritage Trail, 2012
Community Design Collaborative Soak It Up Award Linwood Park, 2012
PA/DE American Society of Landscape Architects, Merit Award Cynwyd Heritage Trail, 2011
PA/DE American Society of Landscape Architects, Merit Award Linwood Park, 2010
Van Alen Fellowship Competition Governors Island 2^nd Place Award, 1996
National Botanical Garden Competition -First PlaceAward

ONGOING RESEARCH

Park in a Truck (PiaT), an initiative of the Jefferson University Landscape Architecture Program and the Laboratory for Urban and Social Innovation (LUSI), investigates how community-led, low-cost transformations of vacant urban land can advance health equity, environmental resilience, and social cohesion. Rooted in evidence that access to green space improves physical and mental well‑being, the project studies how modular, rapidly deployable park components—planned, built, and maintained by residents—can expand equitable access to restorative landscapes while mitigating climate change and fostering local stewardship. By reframing vacant parcels as community assets and creating replicable, block‑level green networks, PiaT aims to generate scalable models for urban greening that strengthen neighborhood capacity, disrupt who gets what and creates sustainable and joyful urban environments.