Blue-green infrastructure that combats the negative effects of climate change in urban areas leads Dr. Williams’ research and advocacy efforts. His recent work focuses on utilizing forestry science to improve landscape architecture, i.e., quantifying the ecological services provided by trees to inform design decisions.
Gaylan Williams is a professional landscape architect, licensed arborist, and LEED® accredited professional. His resume includes over fifteen years of practice working on climate adaptation and hazard mitigation projects in southern cities like Atlanta, Houston, and New Orleans. Williams’ work in urban areas has elevated his outreach approach and engagement skills. He sees all projects through a lens of equity, specifically with regards to community education and understanding of sustainability strategies.
With a balance of theoretical knowledge and practical experience, Williams places sustainability metrics as a critical component in his approach to resilience-oriented site design and city planning. Williams believes that landscape performance is fundamental to modern urban landscape design and development; therefore, he continuously implements low impact development strategies in all his project work and lesson plans.
Williams holds degrees in landscape architecture (BLA) as well as urban design (MSAUD) from Louisiana State University and Georgia Institute of Technology, respectively. Williams also received a doctoral degree (PhD) in urban forestry from Southern University in 2022.