Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Caps Career with Multiple Awards

Pamela Blackmore, a senior graduating this week in landscape architecture from Utah State University and a former resident of Centennial Park, Arizona, has accomplished a lot in her years in Utah. Inspired by family members who work in the field, Blackmore made the decision to attend USU after her family moved to Arizona from Alberta, Canada.

While in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Blackmore has amassed many awards, including the 2013 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Senior Faculty Medal, the Landscape Architecture Foundation Fellowship, LAEP’s Olmsted Scholar for 2012-13, Utah Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects Honor Award and USU’s Honors Program 2013 Joyce Kinkead Outstanding Honors Scholar Award. And, she was presented the Undergraduate Student Contribution to the Field of Theory or Practice for 2012-13.

She has also spent much of her undergraduate career pursuing research in the field and has had her research presented at the University of Texas at Austin.

For all of her accomplishments, Blackmore remains humble.

“Hard work and perseverance pays off,” said Blackmore. “I’m not smart at all. I just don’t give up easily.”

Blackmore gives credit for her accomplishments to the faculty in the department.

“It’s been my teachers all along,” she said. “I’ve had Dr. Bo Yang, who’s taken me under his wing and taught me so much. And then there’s Sean Michael, our department head. He once said, ‘Identify the pattern and break it.’ It’s been that principle that’s helped me be successful here.”

The LAEP program introduces students to landscape architecture through hands on design in the studio. In her classes, Blackmore has drafted designs for locations that include Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City and Parks and Trails in Brigham City.

After graduation Blackmore plans to stay in the Intermountain West.

“I want to work for a few years and then go back to graduate school,” she said.

Although she’s still narrowing down what she hopes to study, Blackmore is considering pursuing a career in water quality and conservation issues.

“I hope to increase green infrastructure in the West… If we want to continue to exist and have water resources in the future, we’re going to have to improve how we use it,” Blackmore said.

Blackmore thinks that USU has prepared her well for her future in landscape architecture and encourages students to look into a career in the field.

“I think that our department is setting us on a very good path to be successful,” she said. “Any individual who is interested in making a difference should definitely consider landscape architecture.”

USU College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences

Contact: Tiffany Adams, 435-797-7406, tiffany.adams@usu.edu