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Lisa DuRussel
Clinical Associate Professor of Practice and Engagement
Landscape Architecture
Cities + Mobility + Built Environment
Cross-cutting
Office
1550 Dana
About
Lisa DuRussel, RLA, LEED AP, ASLA is a licensed landscape architect, ecological designer, and educator whose work bridges the worlds of practice, teaching, and community action. She is the founder of PERIMETER.LA, a design practice grounded in ecological systems thinking, plant-forward strategies, and participatory engagement. With over 20 years of experience spanning major cities, complex sites, and collaborative processes, Lisa’s work advances landscape architecture as a tool for equity, resilience, and transformation.
Lisa is a Clinical Associate Professor of Practice and Engagement in Landscape Architecture at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). Her teaching focuses on ecological design, planting systems, visual communication, and community-based design processes. Through the initiative she leads—Field Office—Lisa partners graduate students with nonprofit organizations, neighborhood groups, and public agencies to co-design projects that center ecological design, storytelling, stewardship, and systems thinking. Her teaching was awarded the “Excellence in Service Learning Award” from Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture in 2024.
She previously held senior roles at nationally recognized design firms including West 8, MNLA, Future Green Studio, and Hoerr Schaudt, where she contributed to award-winning work across the country. Most notably, she led the planting and soils design and construction coordination of the $200M Governors Island Park and Hills Project in New York City—recognized by the Built by Women exhibition from the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation.
Lisa currently serves as Vice President of Education for the Michigan Chapter of ASLA, is the Michigan representative for the ASLA Climate and Biodiversity Network and serves on the planning committee for the biannual Great Lakes Region Climate Action Seminar. She serves her hometown of Manchester, Michigan as a City Parks Commissioner.
Her work and scholarship have been featured in Landscape Architecture Magazine, Metropolis Point of View, World Landscape Architecture, Landscape Research Record, Wetland Science & Practice, and the Journal of Digital Landscape Architecture. Lisa continues to champion landscape architecture as a discipline uniquely positioned to address today’s complex environmental and social challenges.
Publications
Du Russel, L. and Temple, N. (2025). Using Community Engagement to Build Collective Action. In J. Pinto, S. Mainzer and L. Xie (Eds.), Communicating Resiliency and Efficacy in a Digital Age. Emerald Publishing. (In Review)
Ansari, S., Cole, C.A., Du Russel, L. (2023) Designing for the Future: A Climate-responsive and Adaptive Design Framework for Habitat Restoration and Recreation in the Rumney Marsh Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) Massachusetts, USA. Wetland Science & Practice. 41(4). 226-233. ISSN: 1943-6254
Du Russel, L., Meehan, D. (2021). The Tools of Engagement: A Hybrid Community Conversation Strategy to Build Public Trust. Landscape Research Record. (10) 82-88. ISSN 2471-8335
Meehan, D, .Du Russel, L., (2020). Under The Eye: Using an Ecosystem of Digital Tools to Analyze and Solve Land Use Planning Issues. Journal of Digital Landscape Architecture. (5). 604-611. ISSN 2367-4253
Du Russel, L. and Singh, A. “West Point Foundry Preserve.” Landscape Performance Series. Landscape Architecture Foundation, 2018. (https://doi.org/10.31353/cs1360)
Du Russel, L. and Singh, A. “Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park, Phase 1.” Landscape Performance Series. Landscape Architecture Foundation, 2018. (https://doi.org/10.31353/cs1370)
Research
Lisa’s current work focuses on community-based design and urban ecological transformation. Projects on the boards include:
Detroit RePLOT: A citywide initiative that transforms interstitial vacant land into climate-adaptive, ecologically productive plots. The project integrates environmental data collection, planting design prototyping, and resident collaboration to reimagine Detroit’s surplus land as critical green infrastructure.
Flight Pattern: A drone-based mapping and analysis project that creates aerial imagery, geodatabases, and 3D models to guide planting strategies, monitor green infrastructure, and visualize design potential—enhancing climate-resilient decision-making through scalable technology
Buffer Zone: A project focused on converting industrial edges into vegetated buffer zones, improving stormwater management, air quality, and public health in frontline communities.
Lisa’s practice also includes rural public space design. In 2023, her work with the City of Morenci, Michigan to reimagine Stephenson Park received an $865,000 MiDNR Spark Grant, supporting inclusive community engagement and park reactivation in a small-town context. Another $218,000 was received in 2025 through MiDNR Urban and Community Forestry Grant program for street tree planting and environmental education outreach in Morenci.
Accolades
Selected Professional Awards:
Award of Excellence in Service Learning 2024, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture
Governors Island Hills (with West 8): ULI Award of Excellence 2021, Architizer A+ Awards Jury Winner in the Public Park Category 2017, ASLA-NY Chapter Honor Award in General Design 2017
Hunter's Point South Case Study Investigation (with SWA Group, LAF): Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) Honor Award 2020
Roberto Clemente State Park (with MNLA NY): ASLA-NY Chapter Merit Award in General Design 2020, The Waterfront Center Honor Award 2020
New York Botanical Garden Edible Academy (with MNLA NY): ENR New York, Best Green Project 2019, Society of American Registered Architects National Design Award of Honor 2019
Spring Street Park (with MNLA): NYC Public Design Commission Excellence in Design Award 2018
Governors Island Park & Public Space, Phase 1 (with MNLA): NYC Public Design Commission Award for Excellence in Design 2012
Dignity of Restraint: A Historic Landscape Preservation Study for UNC, Chapel Hill (with HoerrSchaudt): ASLA Professional Honor Award in Analysis and Planning 2011 / SCUP Excellence in Planning Honor Award 2010
Education
Master of Landscape Architecture, SEAS '06
Bachelor of Science in Resource Ecology & Environmental Policy, SEAS '02
Affiliations
- Licensed Landscape Architect: Michigan, Illinois, Florida
- LEED Accredited, CLARB Certified
- American Society of Landscape Architects Climate & Biodiversity Network, Michigan Representative / 2025 - Present
- Michigan ASLA VP of Education, Executive Committee Member / 2022 - Present
- Great Lakes Region Climate Action Seminar Planning Committee / 2023 - Present
- City of Manchester MI, Parks Commissioner / 2021 - Present
In the News
In the Media