Supporting Innovative Climate-Responsive Landscape Research
Maya Alawa, a third-year Master of Landscape Architecture student in her final semester at FIU, has been awarded a competitive travel grant from the national Sigma Lambda Alpha Honor Society. Selected as one of only six recipients nationwide, Maya was recognized for her research exploring how landscape design can respond to extreme climate conditions.
Originally from Damascus, Syria, Maya moved to the United States four years ago to pursue graduate studies in landscape architecture, bringing a perspective shaped by her cultural background and experiences with the environment.
Her research focuses on how outdoor spaces can be designed to handle both floods and droughts while remaining functional and welcoming for everyday public life. She approaches landscapes as living systems, exploring ways to balance environmental function with the needs and experiences of the people who use them.
The travel grant will support Maya’s investigation into combining water management strategies from both arid and subtropical regions to create landscapes that can perform during periods of extreme flooding and drought. Her work aims to demonstrate how thoughtful landscape design can strengthen environmental resilience while continuing to support vibrant public spaces.
Maya’s achievement highlights the innovative work emerging from FIU’s Landscape Architecture + Environmental and Urban Design (LAEUD) program. As she completes her final semester, her research contributes to a growing body of work focused on designing landscapes that respond to real environmental challenges while improving the quality of everyday life.
