Environment

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Sunrise, Puerto Rico

“Climate Change and Cultural Heritage,” in Architectural Conservation in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, 2024

I was proud to contribute this overview of the ways that climate change impacts cultural sites and to the textbook, Architectural Conservation in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Australia ICOMOS is an established thought leader on the subject and many Pacific Islands are on the front lines. The book is a comprehensive resource for aspiring and emerging professionals; preview and purchase a copy from Routledge here.

“With green infrastructure, public spaces become key tools in the fight against flooding,” April 2021

Published in Preservation in Print, this article profiled several municipal green infrastructure projects intended to supplement pumped drainage and slow subsidence in New Orleans. One featured project is located in the neighborhood of Pontchartrain Park, a midcentury suburb purpose-built for African Americans that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.

“Saving buildings means saving carbon: how historic preservation fights climate change,” April 2020

This interview with architect and former AIA president Carl Elephante explores the topic of decarbonizing the built environment through energy efficiency and green energy retrofits as well as the importance of avoiding embodied carbon emissions through building reuse.

Assessing the Risks Posed by Environmental and Climatic Change to Immovable Cultural Property, 2015

Completed in December, 2015, This body of research was recognized by the Tulane School of Architecture Faculty with the Award for Outstanding Master's Thesis in Preservation in 2016. The document posits a framework for conducting low-cost vulnerability assessments at historic sites with the goal of improving and altering maintenance practices so as to increase resiliency to looming change. Two pilot sites were examined: Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, which faces inundation should sea level rise exceed 1 m, and Melrose Plantation in Natchitoches, Louisiana, which lies just above a flood plain in an area where increased average temperatures may increase risk from termites and wildfire. 

Case Study Poster for RES/CON 2016 (pdf link)

Case Study Poster for Keeping History Above Water (pdf link)

Full Text of Thesis (pdf link)

Architecture

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Breakwater Hotel, Miami Beach

“Solar energy for historic buildings,” April 2022

Distributed solar energy can leverage thousands of acres of American rooftops to power life beneath them, but not every building is well-suited to solar panels. It is essential to understand the evolving best practices for solar energy in historic districts and on projects seeking historic tax credits.

“Historic home embraces comfort and clean energy without sacrificing charm,” April 2021

The home of architect Z Smith showcases the seamless coexistence of historic character — the original shotgun-style structure was built in 1880 — with modern convenience. Using that example, this article examines cost-effective energy performance measures that can improve the comfort and performance of older wooden houses.

“The history and politics behind Pontchartrain Park,” 2019

Written for a museum-style exhibit that was developed in conjunction with a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, this text details the origin story of a midcentury suburb purpose-built for African Americans in the waning years of segregation and the many luminaries that grew up in the ranch-style homes.

“Egyptian Revival Architecture in New Orleans," Feb. 2015

This exploration of an rarer style that co-existed with the Greek- and Gothic Revival styles looks at the popularization of Egyptian motifs and massing, their strong associations with cemetery designs, and their surprising use in ecclesiastical works. Some of the cities most famed architects, including Dakin and de Pouilly, worked in the style.

Policy

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The U.S. Supreme Court at dusk

“Just Fine? Rethinking penalties for illegal demolition in local historic districts,” Nov. 2021

This white paper helped initiate a coordinated advocacy campaign that successfully changed state law. Prior to the change, the maximum penalty local governments could impose for unpermitted demolition had become a cost of doing business in neighborhoods with skyrocketing property values. The reform, overwhelmingly supported by a conservative state legislature, restored integrity to a process that preserves housing diversity and supports heritage tourism.

“Easements as a Legal Tool for the Preservation of Historic Sites and Landscapes," Nov. 2014

This examination of a tax-advantaged legal tool for perpetual conservation of open-space and preservation of historic building edifices considers the utility of voluntary, private-sector measures in absence of or addition to land-use oversight. With interviews from several Southeastern U.S. states, the report illuminates the opportunity costs and carrying costs associated with preservation-easement programs.

“Worthless & Priceless: The Promises and Pitfalls of Monetizing Heritage,” May 2015.

Unlike natural resources, which are held in commons and managed in the public trust, cultural heritage resources are typically privately owned. How can owners generate revenue from the public benefits those resources provide, including aesthetic, tourism and cultural benefits? Several tools exist, including tax credits, and each has relative merits and limitations.

Travel

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View from Table Rock

“Fort Pike and other 19th-century forts offer important lessons on history and ecology,” Aug. 2020

A kayak outing during a global pandemic serves as the impetus for exploring a special place on the Gulf Coast and examining the shifts in human technology and the environment that shaped it.

“Reflections on Panama,” May 2015

This short essay was penned for the Tulane Preservation Studies Program annual newsletter.

60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Richmond, 2nd ed., 2010

A comprehensive guidebook to parks and trails within an hour's drive of Richmond Virginia, this book takes day-trippers to Civil War and Revolutionary War battlefields, president's homes, forests in the Appalachian foothills and Tidewater marshes.

Capt. John Smith's Adventures on the James, 2007 (with VDCR staff)

Developed for the 300th anniversary of English settlement in the New World, this place-based travel experience Invited travelers to walk in the footsteps -- or paddle in the wake -- of John Smith. Along the way, interpretive signage examined the relationship between colonists and Native Americans and the key role of natural resources in each society. The James River segment inspired a multistate trail network now managed by the National Park Service.