The OU Data Institute for Societal Challenges (DISC) has awarded $2,410.95 in seed money to support a research team that includes Shu Sun, an instructor and Ph.D. student in the Division of Landscape Architecture. The team is conducting the project “Urban Landscape: Eco-social interactions and park configurations influencing human exposure to ticks in Oklahoma City.”
The project aims to bridge knowledge gaps surrounding neighborhood park exposure and risk to tick-borne disease. The team will investigate how tick abundance relates to different landscape composition and configurations in parks. The project will also estimate the potential risk of human-tick exposure based on human behavior in parks.
Shu Sun and her team will be carrying out their research in 16 park sites in Oklahoma, where ticks are known vectors of human disease. The seed grant from DISC will allow the team to purchase ethanol, microcentrifuge tubes, and dry ice for tick preservation and storage. The team will also be purchasing insect repellent for engaging with park visitors and providing tick-borne disease education.
The project has until August to use their funding and will receive monthly support and progress check-ins from their assigned DISC mentor.
Robert L. Wesley, a pioneering architect and beloved mentor, has died at age 88. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Wesley joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in 1964 and became the firm's first Black partner in 1984. Throughout his career, he contributed to significant architectural projects while maintaining a strong commitment to civic engagement and professional mentorship.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to celebrate a series of recent accomplishments by Dr. Jim Collard, Professor of Practice in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design, whose work continues to shape conversations around Indigenous economic development nationally and internationally.
University of Oklahoma Gibbs College of Architecture Dean Hans E. [PA1.1]Butzer returned to one of his most significant works on December 15, joining survivors and past and present board members for the groundbreaking of a $15.8 million expansion of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.
