Ken Yocom
Ken Yocom
Associate Professor and Chair, Landscape Architecture; Adjunct Faculty, Urban Design & Planning
Ken Yocom is Department Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture. He also has an adjunct appointment in the Department of Urban Design and Planning, serves on the steering committee of the PhD in the Built Environments Program, and is core faculty for the Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Urban Design and Planning within the College of Built Environments. He primarily teaches seminar and studio courses in theory, ecology, and urban design.
Trained as an ecologist and landscape architect with professional experience in the environmental consulting and construction industries, he is a graduate of our MLA program (2002). Ken also earned his PhD from the Program in the Built Environments (2007), where he researched nature and society relations through the contemporary context of urban ecological restoration practices.
Ken’s current research, teaching, and practice explore the convergence of urban infrastructure and ecological systems through adaptive design approaches that serve to demystify emerging strategies and technologies for sustainable and resilient development. More specifically, he investigates how water –in all its forms- shapes the past to future functions and patterns of our built environments. He has written extensively on the themes developed from his work including two books, Ecological Design (with Nancy Rottle, Bloomsbury, 2012) and NOW Urbanism: The Future City is Here (with Jeff Hou, Ben Spencer, and Thaisa Way (editors), Routledge, 2014). He has also written for professional practice and scholarly publications on issues of global biodiversity, urban environmental governance, ecological design, and contemporary nature and society relations in the urban context.
In his teaching, Ken emphasizes the development of a holistic and integrated approach that embraces the complexity of our built environments, yet discreetly explores the intersections and overlaps that frame our understanding and appreciation of particular places. He has a strong belief that collaboratively, the allied design professions can act as catalysts in recognizing, utilizing, and transforming the inherent potential of our built environments into places that are socially equitable, environmentally just, and economically sustainable.
Publications
2024
Beck, H., Berney, R., Kirk, B., & Yocom, K. P. (2024). Building equity into public park and recreation service investment: A review of public agency approaches. Landscape and Urban Planning. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2024.105069 View Publication
2023
Fan, R., Yocom, K. P., & Guo, Y. (2023). Utilizing Fractal Dimensions as Indicators to Detect Elements of Visual Attraction: A Case Study of the Greenway along Lake Taihu, China. Land (Basel), 12(4), 883–. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12040883 View Publication
2022
Li, Guanghao; Cheng, Qingqing; Zhan, Changhong; Yocom, Ken P. (2022). Evaluation Strategies on the Thermal Environmental Effectiveness of Street Canyon Clusters: A Case Study of Harbin, China. Sustainability, 14(20). View Publication
2021
Goddard, Mark A.; Davies, Zoe G.; Guenat, Solene; Ferguson, Mark J.; Fisher, Jessica C.; Akanni, Adeniran; Ahjokoski, Teija; Anderson, Pippin M. L.; Angeoletto, Fabio; Antoniou, Constantinos; Bates, Adam J.; Barkwith, Andrew; Berland, Adam; Bouch, Christopher J.; Rega-brodsky, Christine C.; Byrne, Loren B.; Cameron, David; Canavan, Rory; Chapman, Tim; Connop, Stuart; Crossland, Steve; Dade, Marie C.; Dawson, David A.; Dobbs, Cynnamon; Downs, Colleen T.; Ellis, Erle C.; Escobedo, Francisco J.; Gobster, Paul; Gulsrud, Natalie Marie; Guneralp, Burak; Hahs, Amy K.; Hale, James D.; Hassall, Christopher; Hedblom, Marcus; Hochuli, Dieter F.; Inkinen, Tommi; Ioja, Ioan-cristian; Kendal, Dave; Knowland, Tom; Kowarik, Ingo; Langdale, Simon J.; Lerman, Susannah B.; Macgregor-fors, Ian; Manning, Peter; Massini, Peter; Mclean, Stacey; Mkwambisi, David D.; Ossola, Alessandro; Luque, Gabriel Perez; Perez-urrestarazu, Luis; Perini, Katia; Perry, Gad; Pett, Tristan J.; Plummer, Kate E.; Radji, Raoufou A.; Roll, Uri; Potts, Simon G.; Rumble, Heather; Sadler, Jon P.; De Saille, Stevienna; Sautter, Sebastian; Scott, Catherine E.; Shwartz, Assaf; Smith, Tracy; Snep, Robbert P. H.; Soulsbury, Carl D.; Stanley, Margaret C.; Van De Voorde, Tim; Venn, Stephen J.; Warren, Philip H.; Washbourne, Carla-leanne; Whitling, Mark; Williams, Nicholas S. G.; Yang, Jun; Yeshitela, Kumelachew; Yocom, Ken P.; Dallimer, Martin. (2021). A Global Horizon Scan Of The Future Impacts Of Robotics And Autonomous Systems On Urban Ecosystems. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(2), 219. View Publication
Taufen, Anne; Yocom, Ken. (2021). Transitions In Urban Waterfronts: Imagining, Contesting, And Sustaining The Aquatic/terrestrial Interface. Sustainability, 13(1). View Publication
2019
Bailey, David R.; Dittbrenner, Benjamin J.; Yocom, Ken P. (2019). Reintegrating The North American Beaver (castor Canadensis) In The Urban Landscape. Wires Water, 6(1). View Publication
2017
Nilon, Charles H.; Aronson, Myla F. J.; Cilliers, Sarel S.; Dobbs, Cynnamon; Frazee, Lauren J.; Goddard, Mark A.; O'neill, Karen M.; Roberts, Debra; Stander, Emilie K.; Werner, Peter; Winter, Marten; Yocom, Ken P. (2017). Planning For The Future Of Urban Biodiversity: A Global Review Of City-scale Initiatives. Bioscience, 67(4), 331 - 341. View Publication
2016
Yocom, Ken P.; Andrews, Leann; Faghin, Nicole; Dyson, Karen; Leschine, Thomas; Nam, Jungho. (2016). Revitalizing Urban Waterfronts: Identifying Indicators For Human Well-being. Aims Environmental Science, 3(3), 456 - 473. View Publication
2015
Dyson, Karen; Yocom, Ken. (2015). Ecological Design For Urban Waterfronts. Urban Ecosystems, 18(1), 189 - 208. View Publication
2014
Yocom, Ken. (2014). Building Watershed Narratives: An Approach For Broadening The Scope Of Success In Urban Stream Restoration. Landscape Research, 39(6), 698 - 714. View Publication
2011
Karvonen, Andrew; Yocom, Ken. (2011). The Civics Of Urban Nature: Enacting Hybrid Landscapes. Environment & Planning A, 43(6), 1305 - 1322. View Publication
