Joanne Westphal, Ph.D.
Professor, Landscape Architecture
201P Human Ecology
517.355.9729
Fax: 517.432.8108
westphal@msu.edu

Research Interests: health, built environments, sustainability, evaluation strategies

Dr. Westphal is a landscape architect and practicing licensed physician in Michigan. She is a Fellow in both the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. As a faculty member in SPDC, she focuses on issues of health in the built environment, therapeutic site design, context-sensitive design, and research methodology. Her work includes the evaluation of construction standards to promote human wellness; the efficacy of design to complement medical treatment protocols in hospitals and nursing homes; the examination of communities to promote active living throughout the seasons; and the need for place identity, resource sustainability and open space/green corridor protection in the American landscape.

Research Interests:
Research interests encompass two broad areas of the environment: 1) factors that affect human health in the built environment, and 2) issues affecting regional landscape identity, sustainability, and resource protection. Current work focuses on assessment strategies to document the health benefits of gardens and open space to patient and non-patient groups as a part of “evidence-based design”, including the use of virtual reality, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), “intended outcomes measures”, and post-occupancy evaluation. In terms of land use, current work evaluates standards & criteria for site sustainability; performance standards for steep green roof systems (i.e., micro-climate effects, stormwater management, thermal conductivity, and urban wildlife/habitat potential); and seasonal factors affecting walking & biking in cold climate communities.
Courses taught: LA 200 Introduction to Landscape Architecture and LA492 Senior Research Seminar.

Research Projects:
LPI "Microclimate Characteristics of Steep Green Roof Systems"
FACT "Seasonal Barriers to Walking and Bicycling in Cold Climate Communities"

(Upcoming & confirmed)
Bay Bluffs Nursing Home "Site design with Intended Outcomes for Dementia Patients" and "Site design with Intended Outcomes for a Rehabilitation Garden"

(Proposed)
SPG Pre-proposal "The Value of Steep, Green Roof Technology to Sustainable Cold Climate Communities"
FACT "Aging in Place: Transforming Long-Term Conventional Care Models to the Small House Model in Michigan"
SMEP "Evaluating the Potential to Adapt Green Roof Technology to Accommodate Steep Residential Structures and Solar Technology in Cold Climate Communities of Michigan."