 | |  | |
Faculty Dean Abbott Roger Clemence Ann Forsyth Clint Hewitt John Koepke Rebecca Krinke Roger Martin Kristine Miller Laura Musacchio Lance Neckar David Pitt Robert Sykes Adjunct Faculty Joseph R. Favour Robert J. Gunderson Jon Kingstad Richard Murphy, Jr. Patrick Nunnally Peter Olin Sharon Pfeifer Dan Shaw Lecturers Research Fellows  faculty+staff main page | |||
David Pitt Dave Pitt's jumping on chairs or flailing his arms can be quite shockingto new students unaccustomed to his dramatic lecturing style, but the moreexperienced know that it flows naturally from his fervent dedication tohis research and teaching. The vigor Pitt brings to the classroom in hisstudio on regional design and at the department's landscape assessmentworkshop at Itasca State Park he also applies in his research on landscapeperception and on regional design and planning. Pitt is currently involved in a number of projects that could have asignificant impact on the Minnesota landscape. The Metropolitan Councilhas asked him to develop a landscape assessment process that localgovernments can use to facilitate smart growth in an environmentallyresponsible way. The assessment process that Pitt and his team developswill then be used in a case study to create several development scenariosfor a portion of Washington County in the east metro. This project stemsdirectly from work Pitt and his students did in his studio and thepresentations they made to various committees of the Metropolitan Council. In addition, Pitt and several research fellows are developing a handbookfor local officials in Minnesota's Iron Range district on how to integrategreen infrastructure systems in planning and development. Pitt commentsthat the team's goal is to help "reweave landscape patterns on the northside [of the Iron Range] with the landscape patterns on the south side." Pitt is also collaborating with investigators from throughout theUniversity on a project to help sustain and enhance Minnesota's dairyindustry in an environmentally sound way. In one part of the project, "weasked the question, where would it be environmentally okay for the dairyindustry to expand?" explains Pitt. He and his team created a system toevaluate and rate areas for their suitability for new feedlots. Pitt andhis team first developed and applied this system for six counties incentral Minnesota, then stepped down in scale to a single township to helpdetermine where it would be best to expand the operation of an individualdairy producer. All the projects have in common a framework of landscape assessment thatPitt has developed. This framework uses Geographic Information Systems(GIS) to evaluate landscape from the perspectives of protecting andenhancing terrestrial and aquatic biological diversity, as well as surfaceand ground water quality; protecting significant commodity and amenityresources; mitigating danger from environmental hazards; and evaluatingthe suitability of landscape for development based on its physicalfeatures and the existing infrastructure. In addition to fostering environmentally responsible and economically andculturally viable development, Pitt's goal is to provide support systemsfor planning decisions. He uses an analogy to juggling. "People don't lookat items [such as habitat quality, water quality, etc.] independently," heexplains, "instead, they all go up in the air. Some go higher, some getdropped. I want to help them understand the trade-offs of various ballsgetting dropped." Another area of research for Pitt is landscape perception. He has donestudies for the National Park Service of the St. Croix National ScenicRiverway, Arches National Park, and several historic lighthouses on theGreat Lakes. His aim is to determine what is it that people come to see,what their experience is, and to predict what effect on the experiencevarious changes will have. With this information land managers can thenpreserve and enhance that experience. And if that wasn't enough to keep him busy, Pitt is the Director ofUndergraduate Studies as well as an adjunct professor at the HubertH. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs where he co-teaches courses inurban and regional planning. | |||
| |||
| | | |