UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Kenneth Tamminga, distinguished professor of landscape architecture in the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School, has studied how humans connect with their landscape across the globe throughout his career.
“[Landscape architecture is] all so interesting, from the tiniest urban site to the vast natural systems, whether it be urban systems or large, rural landscapes,” Tamminga said. “What ties it all together is the landscape, the relationship between people and their place.”
Tamminga will retire on June 30 after 31 years with Penn State. A Toronto native, Tamminga started his career with an architectural engineering firm and worked with multiple firms in Canada, such as Totten Sims Hubicki Associates and Hough Stansbury Woodland, before a professional connection encouraged him to apply at Penn State.
Tamminga, who received his bachelor of landscape architecture from the University of Guelph and his master of planning from Queen’s University, said that he is particularly drawn to urban green systems and convivial green streets.
“I’ve always been interested in applied ecology and working with life scientists and understanding the deep emotional bonds humans have between green spaces and cities,” Tamminga said. “There are always little tendrils of green that infiltrate a city, and I find those very interesting.”
During his time at Penn State, he served as a distinguished honors faculty member of the Schreyer Honors College, an editorial board member of the peer-reviewed journal, Architecture, and a member of both the Evan Pugh University Professor Committee and the Penn State Tree Commission. He was also a member of the Society for Ecological Restoration and the International Association of Community Development.
Tamminga also worked with an interdisciplinary international team in South Asia, Ghana and Tanzania to examine climate change adaptability and community-based environmental sustainability. The team worked with local non-governmental organizations that identified communities that wanted to collaborate with the researchers.
“We were working with school groups [in India] to reconnect the kids in the community with their working landscapes that were being pulled apart by globalization, resource extraction and social demographic forces,” Tamminga said. “I brought this notion of sustainable landscapes that were laid within identity, that had a connection with people. That [connection] was all being fractured, and we were trying to recover some of that connection to local working landscapes.”
He said the team also talked about co-resilience and the notion of a resilient landscape.
“The [communities] have their finger on the pulse of the land. They were seeing climate change in their regions that were consistent with climate change reports,” he said.
Tamminga said that his work abroad connected directly to his studio course at Penn State collaborating with Pittsburgh residents to help them use the landscape to build resilience, self-sufficiency and strong ties to their place to build community. He also taught courses and studios in planting methods, ecology and plants, landscape film and community design.
“I wish Ken the very best in this next chapter of his career but will miss his many contributions to the department,” said Roxi Thoren, professor and head of the Department of Landscape Architecture. “He has been a mentor to students and faculty, a leading scholar in the field and a true colleague.”
After his retirement, Tamminga said that he wants to continue traveling, learning and lecturing on convivial green spaces and to continue his involvement with the landscape architecture department and education abroad program, which he coordinated.