I am a geographer. A scholar, artist, and educator. Currently, I work in community design and planning. As a Research and Design Fellow at the Minnesota Design Center, I coordinate and lead projects within the Empowering Small Minnesota Communities program, and contribute to MDC’s community-centered design efforts.
I am also one half of Living Site Land Studio (with Margot Lystra). We help land-owning organizations and individuals develop land care approaches that meet their environmental and cultural values and aspirations.
My research and writing focuses on nature-society relations; environmental justice; critical design studies; and the natures of land, property and the commons. My first book, Living with Yards: Nature and the Habits of Home is out with McGill Queens University Press (2022). My work on urban environmental issues has been published in edited volumes and a range of scholarly journals.
I have extensive experience with qualitative methods such as ethnography, visual representations including photography, and participatory approaches. I have also taught many university classes in environmental studies, urban studies, and environmental humanities. My creative practice includes printmaking, writing, and photography.
I earned my PhD in Geography from the University of Minnesota, and a Master of Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley. My undergraduate BA in Biology and Anthropology is from Swarthmore College. I have held academic appointments at the University of Glasgow and the Rhode Island School of Design, and teach intermittently at the University of Minnesota.
I live in St Paul, MN.
Contact: ursula.a.lang@gmail.com OR lang0294@umn.edu