MON-B04: Landscape Climate Adaptation Planning for a Resilient and Iconic Campus

Monday, October 13, 2025

10:15 AM - 11:30 AM CT

Location: New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Room R08-R09

1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW, AICP, NY/HSW, FL

Speaker(s)

Laura G. Marett, ASLA

Principal
SCAPE
Boston, Massachusetts
Marissa Cheng, AICP (she/her/hers)

Director of Planning
University of California at Berkeley
BROOKLINE, Massachusetts
Lydia Woltjer, UCB (she/her/hers)

Operations Manager, Landscape Services
University of California at Berkeley
Oakland, California

Discover how institutions experiencing increasingly extreme climate impacts—including flooding, drought, heat, and fire—can proactively plan for adaptation of the campus landscape through a climate change risk assessment and a landscape adaptation framework that addresses campus character, biodiversity, maintenance, and stewardship.

Learning Outcomes:

Conduct a climate change risk assessment to identify and evaluate vulnerabilities in the campus landscape and plant palette.
Facilitate a dialogue about climate adaptation pathways with diverse campus stakeholders, including university leadership, planning staff, facilities/maintenance staff, faculty, and students, to build consensus around strategic goals and overall approach.
Develop an actionable plan for university staff as well as project design teams, including landscape guidelines, climate adaptation recommendations, adapted plant and material palettes, and approaches to tree succession planning.
Collaborate with campus grounds/facilities staff to develop realistic and implementable guidance for future maintenance practices and priority projects, which can be implemented within constrained financial resources.