public space

Dr. Jessica Fernandez is an assistant professor at the University of Georgia. Her research and teaching incorporate contemporary approaches to the creation and assessment of place through emerging applications such as big data and VR/AR. As a licensed landscape architect, she has over a decade of experience working on a variety of nationwide awardwinning projects. She owns ALPHA Design Studio, where she applies her teaching and research in the design and building industry.

Dr. Yang Song is assistant professor of landscape architecture at Texas A & M University and works at the intersection of landscape architecture, community planning, and urban design. His teaching and research activities have a strong focus on the role of public placemaking to community health and resiliency. He has a long-standing interest in the application of digital technology in research and design, especially in the area of social media and the built environment. His research examines the usage of urban parks and streets through the engagement patterns depicted in Instagram, Tripadvisor, and Twitter.

Dr. Mary Padua is a licensed landscape architect with decades of experience in the public and private sectors, including running her practice, MGP Studio ART DESIGN RESEARCH. Simultaneously, she is a design educator and professor at Clemson University, where she served four years as chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture. Her practice and research activities focus on human-centered outdoor restorative environments that also intersect with technology. She is internationally recognized as a thought leader, visual artist, and writer who has authored works on China’s vast urban experiment, sociocultural theory, and the meaning of place.

Dr. Pai Liu is a lecturer at Dalian University of Technology who taught previously at the University of Oklahoma and Clemson University. Dr. Liu obtained her PhD in Planning, Design, and the Built Environment from Clemson University. Her primary research interests are in health care environments, with an emphasis on design for the aging. Her current research projects include comparing elder care environments in the United States and China, investigating the application of cultural design in health care environments, and developing analytical tools for behavior mapping.