Marriott earned his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture at Penn State, his master’s in regional planning at Cornell University and his doctorate in landscape architecture at the University of Edinburgh. He has been with the department as an assistant teaching professor since 2017.
A licensed landscape architect, Marriott is the principal of Paul Daniel Marriott + Associates, a consulting firm specializing in landscape, preservation, transportation and planning in Washington, D.C.
Prior to starting his consulting business in 2004, Marriott was a program associate and then the director of the Rural Heritage/Historic Roads Program with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C.. He also served as a lecturer within the landscape design graduate program at George Washington University for 25 years.
At Penn State, Marriott has taught advanced design studio courses as well as materials, community planning, contemporary trends and professional practice courses. He is recognized for his diverse and interdisciplinary approach to landscape architecture history and cultural landscapes.
Marriott is known internationally for his work in historic preservation and has written two books and numerous published papers and articles on the subject. He has been a UNESCO reviewer for World Heritage sites, featured on the PBS documentary, "10 Streets That Changed America," and his research on landscape and roads was recently featured at the Garden Museum in London. Marriott is a member of the board of trustees for the National Association for Olmsted Parks.