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Research Interest:
Landscape architecture design, site planning, technology, and
computer-aided design |
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Professor and Chair,
Dept of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture
Dr. Lolly Tai is a tenured Professor of Landscape Architecture
and practicing Landscape Architect. Her expertise is in the areas of
landscape architecture design, site planning, technology, and computer
aided design. A registered landscape architect, her work is
characterized by a sustainable design approach that minimizes and
mitigates impact to the natural landscape. Since 1989, Dr. Tai has
maintained a private landscape architecture firm in Greenville, South
Carolina. As a practicing landscape architect, Dr. Tai has been involved
in design projects that incorporate energy efficiency, water
conservation, and wildlife preservation. Selected projects she designed
include the Xeriscape Interpretive Garden at the Town Hall in Hilton
Head Island, SC; Ramsey Creek Preserve, a sustainable cemetery in
Westminster, SC; StillWater Community in Seneca, SC, and the Heritage
Gardens in the South Carolina Botanical Garden in Clemson, SC. Her work
has been published and recognized through awards from various
professional associations, including the American Society of Landscape
Architects, the National Landscape Association, and the South Carolina
Department of Natural Resources, for design excellence as well as
outstanding protection of natural resources.
Dr. Tai is the recipient of numerous grants. She is
currently administering a $100,000 grant funded by United States
Department of Agriculture. A collaborative effort among several allied
disciplines, the project will focus on an improved course curriculum
intended to strengthen undergraduate education. The purpose of the
project is to develop, teach, implement, and evaluate sustainable
designs using a service learning model. Education on sustaining natural
resources will be integrated into the courses. The project will be
documented and disseminated through a book and website. Dr. Tai will be
collaborating with the Center for Sustainable Community at Temple
University Ambler on a $330,000 grant from the William Penn Foundation.
She will be involved in evaluating open space and trail options for the
Pennypack Creek Watershed, in particular for the areas upstream of lands
protected by the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust. Through
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications, the researchers will
develop alternatives for linking and consolidating open space and
riparian corridors.
Other projects funded by agencies such as the South
Carolina Department of Energy, National Wildlife Federation, South
Carolina Forestry Commission, and Sustainable Universities of South
Carolina have resulted in professional award-winning projects and
publications such as “Landscape Design for Energy Efficiency” and the
“Tree Conservation and Home Site Development Guide.” Dr. Tai has
received professional award recognition for her research, “Assessing the
Impact of Computer Use on Landscape Architecture Professional Practice:
Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Design Creativity.” She has contributed
to dozens of books, journals, and other publications, in addition to
refereed and invited presentations.
Dr. Tai taught at Clemson University from 1988 to
2002. She joined Clemson as the first landscape architecture faculty
hired in their new program. While at Clemson, she taught a wide variety
of courses, including sophomore, junior and senior design studio,
materials and methods of construction, site engineering, and computer
aided design. She has also taught in the Governor’s School of South
Carolina at the College of Charleston for eight consecutive summers and
conducted a Maymester course abroad at Myerscough College in United
Kingdom.
A dedicated teacher, she has earned several awards
from Clemson University, including the Board of Trustees Award for
Faculty Excellence, the Provost Medal for Scholarly Achievement, and the
Outstanding Faculty Award from the President’s Commission on the Status
of Women.
She was a senior landscape architect with Robert Lamb
Hart, Architects, Planners, and Landscape Architects in New York, NY,
from 1979 to 1988. She was involved with the design of more than 50
major projects with the firm, including work at Drayton Hall,
Charleston, SC; Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountains, GA; Conyers Farm in
Greenwich, CT; The Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, W. VA; and
the Nashville Airport.
As Chair of the Department, Dr. Tai is responsible
for the administration and continued growth of the Landscape
Architecture and Horticulture programs. In addition to her
administrative duties, she will also teach undergraduate programs.
Dr. Tai is an associated faculty member of the Center
for Sustainable Communities at Temple University Ambler. She is a member
of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the ASLA
Continuing Education Committee, the Environmental Design Research
Association, the Design Communication Association, and the Council of
Educators in Landscape Architecture. |
