2024 Class of Fellows, Patsy Eubanks Owens, FASLA, Sierra Chapter
University of California, Davis, CA
For over 30 years, Patsy Eubanks Owens has led groundbreaking research in community participation and adolescent inclusion in the design of and access to built environments. Working with underprivileged groups from Philadelphia to Appalachian communities to vulnerable California communities, Owens was the first Landscape Architect to propose and provide evidence that landscapes play an important role in the social and emotional lives of adolescents, editing the first book on this topic, The Routledge Handbook of Designing Public Places for Young People. A dedicated educator, generous colleague, and influential advocate, Owens' critical knowledge and insights reach global audiences of researchers, planners, designers, and policy makers through her teaching, writing, projects, and presentations. Her important 2023 book, Outdoor Environments for People, was the first textbook to present a comprehensive look at social and psychological factors related to outdoor environments for all populations. While teaching at Virginia Tech in the late eighties, she created the Community Design Assistance Center to provide design services to communities and valuable professional experience to students. There, she pioneered an engaged scholarship model of design pedagogy that seamlessly interweaves outreach, learning, and inquiry, resulting in CELA's Award of Distinction. A 2018 Sierra Chapter Legacy Award winner, Owens' methods of working with young people to understand their needs for a supportive public realm were once considered revolutionary but are now accepted practice and have inspired localities to create welcoming public places for young people.
As seen in LASN magazine, September 2024.
