Prof. John M. Marzluff

Dr. John M. Marzluff is a professor of wildlife science at the University of Washington. His research has been the focus of articles in the New York Times, National Geographic, Audubon, Boys Life, The Seattle Times, National Wildlife, Consumer Reports, Time, and Science.  PBS’s NATURE featured his raven research in its production, Ravens, and his crow research in the film documentary, A Murder of Crows. Currently, His classes include Ornithology, Governance and Conservation of Rare Species, Field Research in Yellowstone, and Natural and Cultural History of Costa Rica.

Prof. Defne Sunguroğlu Hensel

Dr. Defne Sunguroğlu Hensel is currently a senior researcher at the Vienna University of Technology. Previously she taught at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Technical University in Munich, and the University of Technology Sydney. As an architect and interior architect, she is a partner in OCEAN Architecture | Environment, as well as coordinating manager and member of the steering committee of LamoLab Research Center. Previously she worked at renowned practices, including Tabanlioğlu Architects in Istanbul and Buro Happold’s Generative Geometry Group in London. Her work and research focus on integrative and adaptive architectural design aiming for novel and hybrid building types, especially in green construction with a focus on urban ecosystem functions and urban food production. Furthermore, she focuses on design methodology, especially on design computing, data-driven design, and innovative design decision support systems. 

Dr. Wolfgang W. Weisser is an animal ecologist who studied biology and mathematics in Gießen and Bayreuth in Germany. In 1994, he received his D.Phil. from Oxford University, the U.K. where he carried out research in Behavioral Ecology at the Department of Zoology. After Postdoc periods at Imperial College at Silwood Park and in the Zoology Institute, University of Basel, he moved to the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany, in 1999, as a professor for Terrestrial Ecology. Since 2011 he holds the chair for Terrestrial Ecology at the Technical University in München, Germany. In his fundamental research, he is interested in the mechanisms underlying the relationships between land use, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning. In his applied research, he aims at using science to improve the design of green infrastructure and conservation in general. In Munich, he came into contact with landscape architecture and became very interested in including animals in landscape architectural design.

Dr. Ferdinand Ludwig is a Professor for Green Technologies in Landscape Architecture (gtla*) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) since 2017.  He is an interdisciplinary researcher and designer, mainly focusing on architectural concepts that integrate plants – both functionally and creatively – into construction designs. Ferdinand studied architecture and completed his doctorate studies at the University of Stuttgart with a dissertation entitled The Botanical Fundamentals of Baubotanik and their Application in Design. In 2007, he founded the research group “Baubotanik” at the University of Stuttgart which he headed until 2017. In 2010 he founded the office collaboration “Ludwig.schönle: Baubotanik – Architecture – Urbanism”. His work is published and exhibited internationally, e.g. in the Pavillon de l’ Arsenale Paris (Fibra Architectures 2019), the Architecture Bienniale of Sao Paolo 2019 (everyday maintenance) and the Venice Architecture Bienniale 2020 (German Pavillon, postponed to 2021).

Dr. Edoardo Currà is currently a professor at the University of Rome Sapienza. He is also a member of the Board of CRITEVAT - Research Center in Engineering for the Protection and Enhancement of the Environment and The Territory. Currently, he is the national president of AIPAI - Italian Association for Industrial Archaeological Heritage and a member of TICCIH - The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage. He coordinates numerous research projects and conventions on the issues of the relationship between Architecture and Bed Construction on the point of view of the management and recovery of heritage, in particular industrial heritage. From 2015 to 2019, he has been a visiting professor at the Southeast University of Nanjing where he taught the seminary Urban historical landscapes of last two centuries: built heritage conservation and re-use for the five-year degree in Landscape Architecture and the studio in Digital tools for the renovation of the industrial heritage.

Dr. Tim Baird is a professor and chair of landscape architecture at Cornell University. Currently, his teaching focuses on design studios that address urban vacancy and the opportunities they provide for regeneration through the use of urban agriculture and other performative operations as well as seminars in landscape materiality. He combines teaching with the part-time practice of landscape architecture and he attempts to bring this professional experience to the classroom in order to strengthen the bond between practice and the academy so students can begin to understand the interrelationship of the theoretical with the pragmatic.