Student Theses 

Jason Parkinson, MLA 2019

Over several decades, USU’s Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning (LAEP) department and Extension specialists have engaged Utah’s rural communities through a variety of design-based outreach activities. These activities are intended to benefit community partners who are interested in learning how design can positively impact tangible community issues. This study documented, evaluated and assessed outcomes of community engagement projects undertaken by LAEP Extension to better understand the program’s impacts over time and approaches for enhancing impacts of future community engagement projects.

Read Jason's full thesis and findings at Digital Commons. 

Logan Oates, MLA 2020

Working with Eagle Mountain, Utah, Logan designed a water conservation garden for their city hall building. Design goals included informing residents on how to make simple changes to their landscape to conserve water and save money. The thesis project resulted in a set of deliverables, including construction documentation of the irrigation plan, planting plan, landscape plan, groundcover plan, and other plans needed build the conservation garden at city hall. 

Read Logan's full thesis and findings at Digital Commons. 

Ian Kola, MLA 2021

Santaquin, Utah is a community in Utah known for its historical apple orchards and is currently facing pressing development pressures from communities to the north. The goal of this project is to plan and design a greenway system that can effectively preserve natural areas within Santaquin, Utah, while connecting important areas of the community and honoring its existing and historical agriculture. Such a greenway system will connect trails, parks, neighborhoods, transportation corridors, canal and power easements, and other notable infrastructure and landmark areas within Santaquin, Utah. This system will allow all citizens easy access to natural areas and will provide improved pedestrian connection throughout Santaquin.

Lloyd Sutton, MLA 2022

Lloyd’s thesis project began in the summer of 2020 to create an active transportation plan for the city of North Logan, Utah.  Active transportation reduces reliance on automotive transport, increases physical activity and health, reduces air pollution, increases road user safety, and addresses transportation equity issues. Active transportation plans are primarily developed in larger urban areas. Currently in Utah, only one comparably sized, small city has adopted an active transportation plan. The successful completion of this project will help determine if existing active transportation plan standards can effectively be applied to smaller Utah and Intermountain West cities and encourage more active transportation planning in small communities.