Landscape Architecture

Nicholas Serrano came to UF from the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture at Louisiana State University where he holds the Neil Odenwald Professorship. He has a Bachelor of Science in horticulture from North Carolina State University, a Master of landscape architecture from Ball State University, and a Ph.D. in the design program at North Carolina State University. Nicholas has taught introductory ecology, ornamental landscape plants, planting design, and various histories of the built environment at North Carolina State University and Ball State University.  His main research project looks at the history of landscape architecture and urban development of the American South. His writing spans the disciplines of Landscape and Environmental History, Southern Studies, and Material Culture to consider the construction of racial identity through the built environment. His secondary research and teaching interests are in contemporary planting design and horticultural technologies in landscape architecture.

Dr. Jules Bruck, RLA, joined the University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning on July 1, 2022, as director of the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning and chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture. She came to DCP from the University of Delaware, where she was professor and founding director of the landscape architecture program. In those roles, she taught capstone and design process studios and courses in creativity, field sketching and ecological planting design. She is a registered landscape architect and a SITES Accredited Professional (AP).

In April 2018, she co-founded the Coastal Resilience Design Studio (CRDS). This Delaware Sea Grant-funded collaboration brings together educators, students, scientists, citizen-scientists, engineers, designers, artists and other academic institutions in Delaware to study and respond to issues affecting the state’s coastlines and coastal communities. CRDS work focuses on coastal challenges that stem from historical decisions, human settlement, sea-level rise and necessary compliance with water quality mandates. The goal of CRDS is to team community members with interdisciplinary experts and students to develop new strategies and manage special cases that threaten coastal communities. Ultimately, the studio hopes to drive policy to benefit coastal communities through more sustainable land use, planning and education.

The CRDS was honored as the 2021 Coastal Estuarine Research Federation’s student contest winner. Their project, Carbon in the Tidewater, focused on Hampton, Virginia, which has a low elevation, high rate of land subsidence and intense storm surge risk. Students explored the use of the Global Carbon Market to finance self-regenerating nature-based coastal infrastructure. This project also received an honor award from the Pennsylvania-Delaware chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

In the fall of 2021, Bruck became the co-director of UD’s Gerard J. Mangone Climate Science and Policy Hub. Over the past year, the Climate Change Hub developed the capacity of UD faculty and students to research and enhance courses with science-based climate change content by providing competitive awards for scholarship and teaching.

Her research interests are coastal resilience, green infrastructure and public perception of sustainable landscape practices. She is the principal investigator for a collaborative project called Developing Engineering Practices using Ecosystem Design Solutions for Future Army (DEEDS). This four-year project will allow her diverse team to research shellfish-based living shoreline solutions. Bruck has a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University.

In 1991, Professor Gurucharri joined the faculty at the University of Florida’s Department of Landscape Architecture where she teaches lecture classes and design studios at the graduate and undergraduate level. During her 30-year tenure she served as Department Chair for over 12 years. As Department Chair, Professor Gurucharri oversaw an accredited Bachelor of Landscape Architecture program, an accredited Master of Landscape Architecture, and a Ph.D. concentration in Landscape Architecture. She was also Co-Director of the School of Landscape Architecture & Planning (SLA&P), home to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and the Department of Landscape Architecture. Professor Gurucharri has conducted research in culture and nature-based tourism to promote conservation and sustainable economic development in Florida and Central America. She has championed the “scholarship of engagement” through the integration of teaching and research through service. She has disseminated this research through national and international publications and presentations. Prior to joining UF, she was in public and private professional practice engaged in domestic and international planning and design projects for 12 years. She received her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) from the University of Florida and her Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.