The School of Architecture at the University of Virginia is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Design Researcher at the Natural Infrastructure Lab (NIL). NIL sits at the intersection of art, science, and engineering, conducting design research using landscape architectural methods to advance the design, planning, and management of innovative, culturally significant infrastructure. This position will work closely with Lab Manager Ruby Zielinski and Associate Professor Brian Davis, PLA, FAAR, to research new forms of natural infrastructure for coastal bays and estuaries along the East Coast of the United States.

The Design Researcher will work across the full portfolio of NIL’s projects, with an emphasis on Tidelands, which aims to study existing natural forms and human practices of coastal protection and develop new forms of design that increase human and ecosystem health over time. Tidelands is a collaborative effort between the University of Auburn and the University of Pennsylvania, funded by the US Army Corps of Engineers Engineering With Nature program.

This position will explore possibilities through fieldwork, large-scale physical and digital modeling, reviewing existing literature and projects, and mapping, drawing, and writing typically required in large-scale landscape architecture projects. Not all skills are required at the start, but applicants must be motivated, curious, organized, and work well with others. The job will involve travel for fieldwork and collaborative workshops, as well as physical work in the lab and desktop analysis.

The Natural Infrastructure Lab is co-directed by Brian Davis and Michael Luegering in the Department of Landscape Architecture at UVA. The Department has a long tradition of design excellence with an emphasis on theory and cultural landscapes, work on post-industrial lands, and with vulnerable communities. This ethos is evident in the Lab’s work on natural infrastructure for coastlines. The Design Researcher would join a thriving research community at the Department, including PhD candidates and faculty working across a wide range of topics.

You can find more information on this listing here.