Education and Camp Guide 2.1 - Flipbook - Page 12
12 The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, February 1, 2026
Learning
Through Experience
Students work directly with clients
to supplement classroom education
By Linda L. Esterson, Contributing Writer
U
niversity programs historically
provide the academic preparation students need to succeed
in the workforce. An increasing
number of programs are also tying in
experiences outside of the classroom to
give students a more well-rounded education and a sense of what their future
employment will look like.
At the University of Maryland College
Park, landscape architecture students
are learning to create urban design
drawings that are more realistic and
visual than ever before, and many projects are taking them onsite to see and
experience the areas for which they are
creating plans. According to Christopher
Ellis, Ph.D., P.L.A., ASLA, FCELA, a
professor in the department of plant
science and landscape architecture at
the University of Maryland, the accredited program starts student experiences
on a small scale, like a courtyard, and
grows to urban and regional design of
larger areas. Upon graduation, they are
equipped to sit for the landscape architect registration examination to become
licensed as a professional landscape
architect through the American Society
of Landscape Architects.
Last spring, about a dozen stu-
University of Maryland students worked with Point Lookout State Park to on a project that focused on sea-level rise.
dents visited Point Lookout State Park
in St. Mary’s County to assist on a
project that focused on preservation.
The Department of Natural Resources,
operator of the park, requested solutions to the implications of sea-level rise
expected over the next 25 to 50 years as
a result of climate change and melting
glaciers around the world. According
to Ellis, the park sits eight feet above
sea level at its highest point but with
an estimated two feet of sea-level rise
expected, much of the park would be
underwater in the future.
Groups of students were tasked with
composing plans to protect or recon-
struct different aspects of the park. Nico
Drummond, now a senior, planned for a
move of the park store and restoration
of a living shoreline, which comprise
plants and trees that serve as a buffer
from the rising water. The living shoreline
provides a habitat for different species of
wildlife and birds including herons, bald
eagles and peregrine falcons.
Many considerations for the park
needed to be taken into account.
Accessibility for visitors to visit all areas
of the store and park was a priority. The
provision of educational elements for
the public about the park, its function
as a habitat and history related to the
Revolutionary and Civil wars were also
required. In addition, they needed to
ensure preservation of the habitat in
every aspect of their planning.
Drummond, originally a chemistry
major, transitioned from the scientific
method to design thinking and its focus
on the ecological aspects of design,
communication tools and 3D visualiza-
tion. The goal with Point Lookout was to
design a project that the DNR engineers
could implement and it would preserve
the park organically, enabling nature to
take its course.
“I think the most enjoyable part of
design thinking is human interaction,”
says the Ellicott City native. “Oftentimes,
especially in studio, we do community workshops and community outreach
with whatever site we’re working on to
really find out what it is that region, that
community, those people that are living
there would like to see in their space.
That is a crucial element of our design.
Taking that to this project, we got to go
out to Point Lookout, after doing some
background research, talk to the park
rangers, get a sense of like what this
space actually looks like. And then [we
were able to] jump into design, with the
idea we are working for the people [and
wildlife] that live in this space. That’s
who our client is, and that’s really the
end all, be all.”
