Dr. Santina Contreras, an Assistant Professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, recently visited Gibbs College to present her talk, “Building Resilience through Community Practices: Exploring Community-led Efforts to Address Gaps in Relocation and Resettlement Programs” as part of the Regional + City Planning Kuhlman lecture series.
In her lecture, Dr. Contreras presented findings from her study in Puerto Rico to challenge how planners relocate and resettle populations when dealing with environmental hazards and development-related issues facing informal communities. Dr. Contreras takes an interdisciplinary approach towards understanding relationships between local communities and external stakeholders surrounding natural hazard events, environmental planning efforts, and international development projects.
Dr. Contreras sits down to talk with students.
Following the talk, Dr. Contreras also met informally with Gibbs students to talk about international planning issues.
The Gibbs Design in Action Awards (GDAA) program, led by Dr. Wanda Liebermann, has announced its 2026–2027 funded student projects. The initiative supports design and research work that addresses social, cultural, and economic issues in the built environment through collaboration with faculty and community partners.
The OU Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) 2024 collaboration with the Historic Threatt Filling Station has been recognized in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's newly released Byways Report: The Scenic Route to Rural Prosperity – a story-driven publication exploring how road trip culture and place-based tourism can fuel economic growth in rural communities.
The Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Camille Germany, Chief of Staff, has been named the 2026 recipient of the university-wide Jennifer L. Wise Good Stewardship Award.
