Associate Professor Baldev Lamba is certainly no stranger to Temple. With 26 years at the University, Lamba was present when the foundations of his department were being created.

Newly elected Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture, Lamba will now add to a diverse line of leaders who have guided more than a quarter century of hands-on, ecologically based education.

"When I first looked out my window on campus in 1989, I thought "This is really good — this is the perfect setting to teach our craft. How fortunate are we that we have this living laboratory in which to work and provide experiences for our students," said Lamba, who was also elected president of the Pennsylvania-Delaware Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) in late 2014. "Every day I go out and have lunch in a different spot in the Ambler Arboretum, or I just walk the grounds. One of our goals as a department is to bring this sense of landscape to more urban environments to make them more eco-friendly, inviting and inspiring."

Dr. Lynn Mandarano, Associate Professor of Community and Regional Planning, will be joining Lamba in guiding School of Environmental Design students for the 2015 to 2016 school year as acting chair of her department. Dr. Deborah Howe, Professor of Community and Regional Planning who has been chair of the department since 2006, has taken a one-year leave of absence.

"One of my goals is to continue to raise the visibility of the (undergraduate) Community Development and (graduate) Community and Regional Development programs locally, regionally and within the Temple community," she said. "I want to highlight the achievements of our students and alumni, who have become leaders in the community development and planning fields all over the country. For example, I created a CRP Blog to show the power of our academic programs. When our students graduate, they have the knowledge and skills to readily implement sustainable initiatives to address social equity, economic growth, environmental protection, transportation, stormwater management and so much more." 

Dr. Howe is by no means relaxing during her time away from Temple. During the current school year, she will be the interim President of the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM).

"I lived in Portland, Oregon, for 21 years and have been on the Board of Trustees of OCOM for 17 years. The presidency is a tremendously exciting opportunity and a fascinating transition to make — OCOM is considered the top school of Chinese medicine in the country," said Howe, who is currently living in the Pearl District of Portland, a completely walkable community that "is an urban planners dream."

Howe said her extensive background in program accreditation — she has conducted 13 accreditation site visits and four program reviews — is proving essential to her role at OCOM as the college explores its future.

"Anyone watching the field of higher education knows that it is increasingly challenging for small specialty colleges to thrive in this environment," she said. "One of the things I'm doing is interviewing all stakeholders and developing a report on the state of the college. I'll provide a series of directions and recommendations to strengthen what OCOM already has while it examines what it wants to be in the future. I have many years of academic experience but I've realized with this new position that I have so much more to learn." 

If there is one commonality that the faculty within the School of Environmental Design share it is that they most often have years, if not decades, of professional experience.

SED faculty, Lamba said, are leaders in their chosen fields, dedicated to teaching the next generation of landscape architects, planners and horticulturists.

"One of our greatest resources is our faculty; there are so many accomplishments among these educators and they are complimented by a diverse group of adjunct faculty from throughout the Philadelphia region. They help engender this great sense of community between our students, faculty and staff," he said. "Our faculty provide a supportive and safe learning environment where ideas can be formed, tested and put into practice. Our students leave here with a strong sense of mission — they have the tools and mindset to face any problem and become leaders in their field."

Mandarano said that most SED faculty are not just educators; they are also practitioners and researchers.

"Every time they walk into the classroom, they have real life experiences to share," she said. "With our connections to Temple's Center for Sustainable Communities, our students have the opportunity to work on research projects with faculty and Center research fellows that directly impact the region. They are making a difference before they ever leave the classroom."

While she is away for this school year, Howe said she knows Community and Regional Planning at Temple is in excellent hands.

"Lynn has a long history of strengthening our curriculum and mentoring our students," she said. "She'll do a fantastic job."

Lamba said he wants to continue the "strong example of advocacy for the program and our students," set by Associate Professor Pauline Hurley-Kurtz, who ably chaired the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture for the past three and a half years.

"We might be considered a small department but we have a big reputation, presence and influence on the campus, university and the larger community. One of my goals is to make our core programs as strong as possible — upgrading and updating what we do and how and why we do it," said Lamba, who will oversee the re-accreditation of the Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture program during the 2015-2016 school year. "I want to continue to increase our outreach efforts and reach out to our alumni — who are a huge resource for our current students — by developing a Professional Advancement Committee. Our SED alumni have a great deal of knowledge to share; we need to give them additional avenues to become an essential part of our academic community."