Professor Alexander Felson

Biography

Dr. Felson is the Elisabeth Murdoch Chair of Landscape Architecture at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. He is a senior certified ecologist and a registered landscape architect. Felson works as an academic and practicing professional to advance resilient livable cities and sustainable planning, landscape architecture and urban design. He focuses on climate adaptation, green infrastructure and constructed ecosystems across multiple scales. Felson founded and runs the Urban Ecology and Design Lab (UEDLAB) and Ecopolitan Design, where he integrates applied ecology with landscape architecture and urban design. He recently served as the Deputy Executive Director for the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation overseeing resiliency for the State of Connecticut and as Associate Research Scientist in UConn's Department of Marine Sciences. Prior to joining CIRCA, he held the position of Associate Professor at Yale University jointly between the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Architecture. Dr. Felson specializes in constructed ecosystems, and he directed the NYC Reforestation Plan as part of the MillionTreesNYC while working at AECOM. He works on suburban development projects creating conservation developments that are responsive to the local forests, wetlands and amphibian habitats. He worked with developers and with Stanford University on planning for amphibians and large-scale land development. Felson has worked across the United States on resilency projects including New York, Connecticut, Florida and California. He built bioretention gardens in Bridgeport through a community process, worked on the first resiliency plan for the State in Guilford, served as a core team member on Rebuild by Design, and recently completed the Regional Resilience Framework Plan with the Nature Conservancy. Alex holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from Rutgers University an MLA from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and an MS in Land Resources from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Featured projects

• Earth Stewardship Initiative
• Ecopolitan Design
• UEDLAB
• Connecticut Institute for Resilience & Climate Adaptation (CIRCA)