{"id":22124,"date":"2026-08-25T12:07:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/?p=22124"},"modified":"2026-08-25T12:17:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:17:59","slug":"nadine-soubotin-qa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/news\/nadine-soubotin-qa\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing for People, Plants, and Place: Q&A with Nadine Soubotin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally from Rochester, New York, Nadine Soubotin brings a background spanning landscape architecture, urban design, and architecture to her work at the University of Rhode Island. She studied landscape architecture with a concentration in urban design and architecture at Cornell University in Rome, Italy, and later pursued graduate study in landscape architecture at the University of California, Berkeley.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soubotin joins URI as part of the newly formed Department of Earth Sciences, Planning, and Design<\/a> (ESPD), where she is excited to bring different disciplines together and explore how design can respond to environmental challenges while creating meaningful, resilient places for people and nature.<\/em>

Q. What first sparked your interest in landscape architecture?<\/strong>

A. I come from a family of architects, gardeners, engineers, scientists, and educators, so I grew up surrounded by both creativity and problem-solving. I discovered landscape architecture in middle school and was drawn to the way it brought together my interests in art, landscapes, and making. Most of all, I loved that every project was different\u2014always giving me something new to learn, explore, and solve.

What are you exploring in your research?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m fascinated by the intersection of people, plants, and place, and by how placemaking can evolve in a changing climate. I\u2019m excited to research and test how landscapes can be both beautiful and resilient\u2014creating meaningful places while supporting the people, plants, and habitats that make them thrive.

How would you explain your research to someone unfamiliar with the field?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m interested in how we can create places that are good for both people and nature. As our climate changes, I\u2019m looking at how gardens, open spaces, streets, and public spaces can be designed to do more than just look beautiful. They can provide shade, manage water, support wildlife, and make people feel connected to a place. My research explores how we can bring all of those things together\u2014creating places that are beautiful, useful, resilient, and alive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What excites you most about being part of ESPD?<\/strong>

What excites me most is the opportunity to build something together across disciplines. Bringing earth science, planning, and design into conversation allows us to see landscapes more fully\u2014as dynamic systems shaped by both natural processes and human decisions. I\u2019m excited by the chance to learn from colleagues, connect different ways of thinking, and develop shared frameworks that turn deeper understanding into thoughtful, resilient futures. 

What will you be teaching at URI?<\/strong>

My research and teaching move between landscape systems, design, and perception. In design studios, I ask students to read the landscape first\u2014its geology, hydrology, vegetation, history, and human patterns\u2014and then consider how design can reveal and work with those systems. I\u2019m interested in landscape as both a living framework and a form of expression: a way to communicate, make meaning, and imagine how we might live with a changing climate. My work moves across local, regional, and global scales, connecting what happens on a site to larger environmental forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My current interests center on placemaking, water, and plants. As climate change reshapes landscapes, I\u2019m interested in rethinking our relationship with infrastructure and how it might become more than a management solution. I ask how design can respond to risk while creating meaningful places that foster connection, experience, and stewardship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This semester, in planting design, I\u2019m excited to launch a new \u201ctest plot\u201d as a living laboratory for students and the campus\u2014giving students a place to observe change, experiment, care for plants, and develop an understanding of landscape as an evolving system. 

What are you reading, watching, or listening to lately (academic or otherwise)?<\/strong>

Anything Piet Oudolf\u2014his planting work and the way he thinks about plants as living, changing communities always gives me something new to think about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At home, I\u2019ve been reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy<\/em> aloud with my youngest. It\u2019s a great counterbalance \u2014and a pretty fun way to revisit a world and imagined landscapes I loved when I was younger. 

Is there anything else you’d like the URI community to know about you?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m very enthusiastic about joining the URI community and jumping into the work of shaping a more thoughtful, resilient, and connected world. I\u2019m energized by being part of a community that is actively looking toward the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of work, I love to travel, adventure, and be outdoors\u2014year-round and in almost any weather. Most of all, I enjoy time with my family and our dog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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