Purdue-National Park Service Partnership

In 2019, Dr. Aaron Thompson initiated a new partnership between Purdue University and the National Park Service (NPS). The collaboration provides the Center for Community & Environmental Design (CCED) access to projects, staff, and resources from the NPS’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Program. Additionally, the NPS has awarded two Conservation Legacy Fellowships to the CCED, which has allowed graduates of our landscape architecture program to experience employment with NPS while based on the Purdue campus. This partnership seeks to grow the capacity for the National Park Service RTCA program and the CCED’s mission to provide planning and design support to communities across Indiana. Highlights of this collaboration to date include:

Access to CCED-NPS Project Portfolio:

• Part 1: https://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/thompsonlab/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/2019-23_CCED-NPS_Portfolio-Web_Part1.pdf
• Part 2: https://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/thompsonlab/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/2019-23_CCED-NPS_Portfolio-Web_Part2.pdf
• Part 3: https://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/thompsonlab/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/04/2019-23_CCED-NPS_Portfolio-Web_Part3.pdf

Partnership Milestones:

1. 2024: Grand opening of visitor facility improvements at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands prairie restoration project CCED-NPS_TheNatureConservancy-KankakeeSands_VisitorExperienceMasterPlan
2. 2022-23: NPS-CCED Fellow, Megan Hedges, was hired as Historical Landscape Architect at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
3. 2022-23: Capstone Project Partnerships with Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Voyageurs National Park, and Manassas National Battlefield.
4. 2022-23: NPS – Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Program renewed GIS and Environmental Design Support Contract. This supports an undergraduate part-time during the academic year, followed by a 3-month internship with NPS during the following summer session.
5. 2021-22: Megan Hedges, Purdue Landscape Architecture Graduate, was hired as Conservation Legacy Fellow. The competitive federal fellowship provides an 11-month experience as a member of the NPS-RTCA Midwest Team.
6. 2021-22: NPS – RTCA initiated a 5-year GIS and Environmental Design Support Contract with the CCED.
7. 2021-22: A joint design and planning project was completed between NPS-RTCA and CCED to complete nature-based tourism site recommendations for the Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands Preserve in Newton County, Indiana. This joint effort involved three additional undergraduate Capstone projects, who participated in all aspects of the project. After the Capstone project, share NPS-CCED fellow Megan Hedges (2021-22) provided final design support for the project.
8. 2020-21: A total of 7 Landscape Architecture Capstone projects were co-supervised by NPS staff, including projects with Indiana Dunes National Park and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
9. 2021-22: NPS-CCED Fellow, Faith Welty, was hired as Outdoor Recreation Planner overseeing the 9 Historic National Trails Design Program.
10. 2020-21: Faith Welty, Purdue Landscape Architecture Graduate, was hired as Conservation Legacy Fellow. The competitive federal fellowship provides an 11-month experience as a member of the NPS-RTCA Midwest Team.
11. 2020-21: A total of 4 Landscape Architecture Capstone projects were co-supervised by NPS staff, including projects with Indiana Dunes National Park and Lincoln Home in Springfield, Illinois.
12. 2019: Cooperative Agreement signed between NPS-RTCA and Purdue CCED. The relationship began through Dr. Thompson’s networking efforts and provided leadership for all aspects of the partnership development.