The Cultural Landscape Laboratory works with landscapes ranging in size from less than three acres to nearly 1,900 acres. They exist in urban, suburban, and rural contexts. They occupy locations within grassland, temperate forest, marine, and estuarial biomes, and they encompass distinctive forest, savanna, agricultural, marsh, swamp, and riparian ecological communities. The laboratory’s research sites trace the legacy of European colonization of North America, the cultural history of American Indian nations, the rich traditions of African-American communities, and the unique art and lifeways of the Gullah-Geechee people who inhabit coastal Georgia. These landscapes tell stories about human suffering and triumph, environmental degradation and recovery—stories that are both beautiful and tragic. They teach us about the difficulties and the joys of caring for land and the community of life that comprises it.

The lab collaborates with the people who own and care for these places to develop, implement, and evaluate strategies for cultural landscape management and interpretation. Our work builds upon the professional procedures for cultural landscape preservation developed by the U.S. National Park Service, while also exploring new possibilities for research, innovation, and education. Our research sites also serve as “field labs” for the next generation of cultural landscape professionals, creating opportunities for UGA graduate students to further their education with valuable “real-world” research, design, planning, and management experiences.