PhD in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, 2012, University of California, Berkeley

Yekang Ko is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning where she teaches landscape planning and design studios, design for climate action, global sustainability, and landscape planning and analysis. Her research focuses on sustainable energy landscapes, green infrastructure, and climate change mitigation and adaptation planning. Her teaching and professional projects are based on community service-learning and outreach, collaborating with governments, non-profits, professionals, and educators locally and internationally. She is currently directing the Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Hub of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU). With expertise in renewable energy landscapes, she also holds a joint appointment as a Senior Scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She is also the co-founder of the Landscape for Humanity (L4H) Lab, which supports social and environmental justice through design research and education.   

Her research, teaching, and community engagement were recognized with the 2024 CELA Excellence in Service Learning Award, the 2024 Campus Sustainable Award in Research and Innovation, the 2020 CELA Excellence in Research Award, the 2019 Town and Gown Sustainability Award, the 2018 Sustainability Award for Excellence in Teaching Honorable Mention, and the 2023 and 2018 EPA Campus RainWorks Challenge (1st place). Find out her story in the Oregon Quarterly Summer 2018 and A Rising Tide: Women in Water Power 2023.

Recent Teaching Examples

LA 4/510 Design for Climate Action (Winter 2022) Opportunity Village Eugene and Everyone Village 

LA 440/540 Landscape Planning and Analysis (Spring 2020) - Planning for a Green New Deal: A Transect Approach for Oregon Energy Landscapes

LA 410/510 Design for Climate Action (Winter 2020) - Climate Action Recommendations for the City of Silverton

LA 494/594 Studio (Fall 2020) - Post-pandemic Public Open Space in Urban Core: Designing Multifunctional Green Loop in Portland, Oregon (Green New Deal Super Studio) 

LA 494/594 Studio (Fall 2019) - Planning for Home: A Landscape Approach for Resilient Transitional Housing

LA 459/559 Sustainable Energy Landscapes (Winter 2019) - Opportunity Village Eugene Project

Selected Publications

Elderbrock E, Russel K, Ko Y, Budd E, Gonen L, Enright C. 2024. Evaluating Urban Green Space Inequity to Promote Distributional Justice in Portland, Oregon. Land. 13(6):720. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13060720

Kim, S., Ko, Y., and Jang, K. 2024.  Air pollution, perceived health risk, and trip decision-making: Environmental justice considerations" Cities.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2024.104949

Kim, S., Ko, Y., and Jang, K.2023.  Role of Income on Travel Behavior in Polluted Air. Journal of Transport & Health. 33:101705. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2023.101705

Preziuso, D. Dimond, K., and Ko, Y. 2023. Renewable Energy Landscapes: Southwest and Pacific Northwest Workshops (PNNL-34218). Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington. Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy. June 2023.

Elderbrock, E.*, Ponette-González, A., Rindy, J., Lee, J.-H., Weathers, K., Ko, Y. 2023. Modeling Black Carbon Removal by City Trees: Implications for Urban Forest Planning, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 86: 128013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2023.128013

Ponette-González, A.G., Chen, D*. Elderbrock, E.*, Rindy, J.E., Barrett, T.E., Luce, B.W., Lee, J-H., Ko,Y., and Weathers, K.C. 2022. Urban edge trees: Urban form and meteorology drive elemental carbon deposition to canopies and soils. Environmental Pollution: 314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120197.

Wang, H-W., Dodd, A.*, and Ko, Y. 2022. Resolving the Conflict of Greens: A GIS-based and participatory least-conflicting siting framework for renewable energy development in Taiwan, Renewable Energy 197: 879-892. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2022.07.094

Namin, S*., Ko, Y., Zhou, Y, and Beyer, K. 2022. Discourse analysis of the perceptions of environmental justice and respiratory health disparities in Dallas, TX, Local Environment 27:3, 272-286 https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2022.2040460

Johnson, B. and Ko, Y. 2022. The APRU Sustainable Cities and Landscape Hub: A Platform for Collaborative Knowledge Production and Action, in The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Cities and Landscapes, ed. Yang, Y. and Taufen, A. Abingdon: Routledge.

Coffman, M. and Ko. Y. 2022. Renewable Energy Landscapes across the Pacific Rim, in The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Cities and Landscapes, ed. Yang, Y. and Taufen, A.

Ko, Y., Coffman, M., Mulvaney, D., Copping, A., Wang, H., Barrett, B.F.D. 2022. Conflicts of Greens’ in Renewable Energy Landscapes: Case Studies and a Planning Framework, in The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Cities and Landscapes, ed. Yang, Y. and Taufen, A. Abingdon: Routledge

Fiorelli, T.*, Yu, Y.*, Ko, Y., Dimond, K., and Coffman, M. 2022. Colocation for Co-benefits: the SWOC Analysis of Brightfields and Agrivoltaics, in The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Cities and Landscapes, ed. Yang, Y. and Taufen, A. Abingdon: Routledge

O’Neil, R., Preziuso, D., Arkema, K. Ko, Y., Pevzner, N. Dimond, K. Gore, S., Morrice, K. Henderson, C. and Powell, D.  2022. Renewable Energy Landscapes: Designing Place-Based Infrastructure for Scale (PNNL-32680). Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington. Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Pevzner, N., Ko,Y., and Dimond, K. 2021. Power Player. Landscape Architecture Magazine, June 2021 

Ko, Y. and Parker, C. 2020. Landscape Architecture Tackles Homelessness and Shelter in the Pandemic, ASLA The Field

Ko, Y., Barrett, B.F.D., Copping, A.E., Sharifi, A., Yarime, M., and Wang, X. 2019. Energy Transitions Towards Low-Carbon Resilience: Evaluation of Disaster-Triggered Local and Regional Cases. Sustainability 11, 6801. Open Access

A.W. Foss and Ko, Y. 2019. Barriers and opportunities for climate change education: the case of Dallas-Fort Worth in Texas. The Journal of Environmental Education, 50:145-159

Cease, B., Kim, H., Kim, D., Ko, Y., and Cole, C. 2019. Barriers and incentives for sustainable urban development: An analysis of the adoption of LEED-ND projects. Journal of Environmental Management 244: 304-312.

Ko, Y. 2018. Trees and vegetation for residential energy conservation: A critical review for evidence-based urban greening in North America, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 34: 318-335

Ko, Y, Jang, K., and Radke, J.D. 2017. Toward a solar city: Trade-offs between on-site solar energy potential and vehicle energy consumption in San Francisco, California, International Journal of Sustainable Transportation 11(6): 460-470.

Ko, Y., Roman, L.A., McPherson, E.G., and Lee, J. 2016. Does tree planting pay us back? Lessons from Sacramento, CA. Arborist News. June 2016: 50-54.

Adil, A. M. and Ko, Y.  2016. Socio-technical evolution of Decentralized Energy Systems: A critical review and implications for urban planning and policy, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57: 1025–1037.

Lee, J., Ko, Y., and McPherson, E.G. 2016. The feasibility of remotely sensed data to estimate urban tree dimensions and biomass, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 16: 208-220.

Ko, Y, Lee, J., McPherson, E.G., and Roman, L.A. 2015. Long-term monitoring of Sacramento Shade program trees: Tree survival, growth and energy-saving performance, Landscape and Urban Planning 143:183–191.

Ko, Y, Lee, J., McPherson, E.G., and Roman, L.A.  2015. Factors affecting long-term mortality for residential shade trees: Evidence from Sacramento, CA, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 14: 500–507.

Ko, Y. and Radke, J.D. 2014. The effect of urban forms on residential cooling energy use in Sacramento, California. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 41(4): 573 – 593.

Ko. Y. 2014.The effect of urban trees on residential solar energy potential. Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture 42(1): 41-49.

Ko, Y. 2013. Urban form and residential energy use: A review of design principles and research findings. Journal of Planning Literature 28(4): 327-351.

Yoon, J. and Ko, Y. 2013. STS student learning model: An effective approach to identifying environmental problems and solutions. The International Journal of Science in Society 4(2): 133-147.

Ko, Y., Schubert, D.K., and Hester, R.T. 2011. A conflict of greens: Green development versus habitat preservation—the case of Incheon, South Korea. Environment 53(3): 3- 17.