Nina-Marie Lister is Assistant Professor of Urban & Regional Planning at Ryerson Universityin Toronto. A Registered Professional Planner, Nina-Marie has worked for three levels of government and in the private sector as an ecological and landscape planner for the past 10 years, and she remains active in practice with ZAS Inc., a Toronto-based architectural and planning firm. She recently co-founded Terrassa Design Ltd., a creative studio practice focusing on landscape and urbanism.
Nina-Marie's research interests and publications explore the creative tension at the interface of culture and nature through ecological planning and design in urban ecosystems. Related areas of interest include cultural landscapes, sustainable communities, biodiversity conservation and adaptive planning and management. Her research has been published in various peer-reviewed journals, including Environmental Monitoring and Assessment and Hydrological Processes, as well as professional practice journals, including Canadian Architect, Perspectives, and Alternatives Journal.
Her planning work has been featured in several international design competitions, and recently exhibited at the Toronto Design Exchange and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Recent projects have included the Milton Eco-Tech Village Concept near Toronto, the Jack Pine Hill Education & Recreation Centre in North Bay, Ontario, and the Downsview Park International Design Competition (finalist) in Toronto. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Bay Initiative, and the Advisory Panel of Environmental Defence Canada.
Research Interests:
urban ecosystems, landscape & ecological design, biodiversity conservation, adaptive planning & management, ecological stewardship, ecological learning & literacy, culture/nature dualism, social & cultural ecology.
Teaching interests:
Landscape planning, ecological design, environmental planning, research design & methods, field ecology.
Philosophy of Teaching:
"Through passion and enthusiasm, to foster reciprocal learning, to stimulate and encourage rigourous, critical enquiry, and to embrace a diversity of perspectives."