PhD in Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning

Offering you a rich intellectual community rooted in the dynamic contexts of UC Berkeley, the Bay Area, and beyond, California is the ideal place to study landscape architecture and environmental planning. As the birthplace of social justice advocacy and the environmental movement, 21st-century California brings issues of equity, urbanization, and climate change into stark relief. Its diverse population, 40 million strong, and its rich and varied environmental conditions — coasts, deserts, mountains, cities, suburbs, exurbs, and agricultural regions — makes it the ideal laboratory for our discipline.

As a UC Berkeley graduate student, you will be studying at the number one public university in the United States alongside the brightest and most passionate students from across the globe. Berkeley’s environment of critical inquiry, discovery, and innovation is informed by a deep commitment to contributing to a better world. 

The Department of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning (LAEP), established at UC Berkeley in 1913, was one of the founding departments in the College of Environmental Design. When the college was created in 1959, it was the first in the nation to unite the disciplines of architecture, planning, and landscape architecture, leading the way toward an integrated approach to analyzing, understanding, and designing our built environment. The college emphasizes environmental design as a profoundly ethical practice, inseparable from social, political, economic, and cultural contexts and co-produced through dynamic engagements with diverse communities.

Participation of faculty in research increases the base of knowledge and theory in support of teaching and the profession. PhD students are often involved in these research topics as research assistants. Current topics include natural resource analysis, computerized inventories, environmental impact studies, methods of shoreline classification, principles of forest landscape design, urban livability studies, urban perception, case studies in urban design, morphological studies of the urban edge, environmental interpretation, behavior in parks and open spaces, community recreation projects, and environmental simulation.

Students formulate coursework plans (to include the PhD seminar) to develop an individual specialization within the field, which must be approved by the students’ program advisers.

Progress toward the degree is evaluated at least annually by the PhD Committee. By no later than the end of the third semester, students will be evaluated as to their suitability for completing the PhD degree. Any student who, in the opinion of the faculty, seems unlikely to be able to complete all degree requirements (including dissertation research) will be subject to dismissal.

UC Berkeley begins accepting applications in early September for the following fall term only (no spring admissions). The fall semester begins in mid-August. 

We recommend you start the application process as soon as possible. As a prospective graduate student, you’ll submit your application through UC Berkeley’s Graduate Division. You’ll find lots of useful information on the Graduate Division website, including application instructions and information about funding your education. 

Only online applications (including letters of recommendation) are accepted. All documents, regardless of language of instruction, must be translated into the English language. Transcripts, diplomas, and certificates should be provided in the original language of instruction AND in English. Transcripts must show your full name, degree conferral date, and degree.