Assistant Professor
Community and Regional Planning
Temple University

Dr. Mandarano joined the Ambler College faculty in 2005 as an Assistant Professor. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Sustainable Community Design and Development, Collaborative Planning/Public Conflict Resolution, Studio, Senior Capstone and Master’s Thesis/Project.

She was the recipient of the General Education Team Teaching Award for her commitment to developing and piloting the course, Science of Sustainable Design.

Her research focuses on understanding the influences that collaborative processes have had on our natural resources and regional governance capacity in such contexts as sustainable development, environmental planning and regional planning.

Current research projects include evaluating Philadelphia’s regional watershed partnerships and assessing sustainable development practices in multiple metropolitan growth corridors. Her work has been published in the Journal of Planning, Education and Research, Society and Natural Resources and Journal of the American Water Resources Association.

Prior to becoming a professor, Dr. Mandarano worked for more than 20 years as a professional consultant in environmental planning and public policy for US municipal, county and state governments, private business and international clients. This experience includes managing the preparation of environmental impact statements, preparing permits, developing public policy, writing strategic plans and managing a regional marketing program.

In 1998, Dr. Mandarano started her own consulting practice, The Natural Resource, which is certified as a woman-owned business enterprise in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia.

She serves as the Chair of the Ambler Campus Sustainability Council and is a University Sustainability Ambassador. She also was a founding member of the steering committee sponsoring the Urban Sustainability Forum for a sustainable Philadelphia.

Dr. Mandarano holds a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA in Management Science from Iona College and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell.

Courses taught:

LAN ARC 0841 Science of Sustainable Design (undergraduate)

C+R PLN 1007 People and Places (undergraduate)

C+R PLN 4896 Senior CRP Capstone Seminar (undergraduate)

C+R PLN 3256/5256 Sustainable Community Design and Development (undergraduate and graduate)

C+R PLN 8476 Planning Negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (graduate)

C+R PLN 8889 Planning Studio (graduate)

C+R PLN 9995 Thesis/Project in Planning (graduate)