Meg Calkins, FASLA, FCELA

Bio

* Meg discusses her work in the Landscape Architecture + Environmental Planning department in this video!*

Meg served as department head for the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at NC State from 2018-2022. As LAEP Head, she led the Department through a successful LAAB Accreditation in 2022, increased MLA student enrollments, increased participation in the Undergraduate LA Minor program, worked to have the MLA Program become STEM designated and diversified the MLA student body. Meg teaches Landscape Architecture Construction Materials and Methods , Site Design, and an interdisciplinary Sustainable Design + Development elective. Prior to her tenure at NC State, she taught at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and most recently at Ball State University.

Meg’s scholarship focus is on the environmental and human health impacts of site construction materials and details. She wrote the book Materials for Sustainable Sites: A Complete Guide to the Selection, Evaluation and Use of Sustainable Construction Materials in 2009. She edited and contributed to The Sustainable Sites Handbook: A Complete Guide to the Principles, Strategies and Best Practices for Sustainable Landscapes in 2012. The book provides information on the strategies and technologies that support the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) credits. Meg is currently writing a book with the working title Details and Materials for Resilient Sites.

As one of the founding members of the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), Meg has taken an active leadership role in the development and implementation of the Standard since 2003. In the early years of SITES, Meg collaborated with a small, interdisciplinary group of professionals on the development of credits and standards for all sections. As the Standard became more detailed, she focused on development and refinement of credits related to materials, construction and waste. Meg has written twenty-five articles for Landscape Architecture magazine and currently she serves on the magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board.

Calkins is active in the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). In 2013, she served on the ASLA Professional Awards Jury and in 2016, she was a member of the National ASLA Student Awards Jury. In 2017 she was invited to serve on the ASLA Honors and Awards Advisory Committee. In 2022, she was elevated to Fellow in the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA).