Computer generated overhead view of a lush, green agricultural landscape dotted with trees and shrouded in morning fog; the sun is peeking above the horizon and a flock of geese is flying above the scene.

Biophilia Symposium 2025

Conference Announcement

02–03 March 2025

Bold transparent text reading: Biophilia – Designing for Animals


About

The Stuckeman School is excited to announce a groundbreaking research symposium titled “Biophilia: Designing for Animals.” This event will explore the critical role of animals in design and how our built and natural environments are shaped by more-than-human participants.

Details

Dates: 02–03 March 2025

Location: HUB-Robeson Center
Penn State University Park campus

Keynote Speakers

Doug Tallamy
Nina-Marie Lister

Doug Tallamy, T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, Founder of Homegrown National Park

Nina-Marie Lister*, Professor and Graduate Director of the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University, Founding Principal of PLANDFORM

*Tentative

Exhibition

The symposium will connect with the international exhibition, "Tres Comunidades, Un Río: Life within Peru’s urban Amazonian floodplains." The result of a collaborative research and advocacy project involving Peruvian and U.S. ecologists, photographers, landscape architects, social scientists, public health researchers, and community members, "Tres Comunidades, Un Río" reveals stories of relocation, biodiversity, One Health, connections to nature, and strength of community of those humans and animals under threat in the urbanizing Amazon Rainforest.

A man sitting on the edge of a rowboat on a river dotted with vegetation.

Reception

Date: 02 March 2025

Location: Borland Project Space
Penn State University Park campus

Call for Papers & Posters

We invite submissions from researchers and practitioners exploring the full range of biophilial design, from megafauna to microbes, and their intersection with natural and built environments. We invite submissions from researchers and practitioners from all fields.

Abstract Submission Guidelines

  • Deadline: Jan. 15, 2025
  • Format: Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and must include the title, author(s), affiliation(s), and choice of format (talk, poster).
  • Submission: Please submit abstracts via Microsoft forms.
  • Notification: Authors will be notified of acceptance by Jan. 31, 2025.

Registration Details

Register Now
  • Early Bird Registration (by Jan. 15, 2025): $300 for professionals, $150 for students. There are 20 free registrations for students (student ID required). FCFS.
  • Regular Registration (after Jan. 15, 2025): $350 for professionals, $175 for students
  • Registration Includes: Access to all presentations and conference materials.

Contact

Headshot of Charles Andrew "Andy" Cole

Charles Andrew "Andy" Cole

  • Director E+D: Ecology plus Design
  • Professor of Landscape Architecture and Ecology

cac13@psu.edu

814-865-5735