LYNN MANDARANO: PLANNING WITHOUT BOUNDARIES
If
there is a basic truth that Dr. Lynn Mandarano has learned in her years as
an environmental engineer and consult it’s that smart planning knows no
boundaries.
“Planning goes beyond jurisdictions and municipalities, which is why I became interested in collaborative planning,” she said. “A wetland does not care if it is in Montgomery County or Philadelphia County. I want to look at ways to design urban and regional areas in order to help the next generation of planners to address regional concerns.”
At Temple University Ambler, she has the chance to do just that.
Dr. Mandarano joined the Ambler College faculty in Fall 2005 as an Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning. She will is teaching courses in Collaborative Planning/Public Conflict Resolution and Environmental Planning and will be conducting research through the Temple University-Villanova University Watershed Initiative, a project supported by a $440,000 grant provided by the William Penn Foundation — a grant proposal that Dr. Mandarano assisted in developing.
As part of the Watershed Initiative, her research efforts will include assessing regional best management stormwater practices and developing an integrated monitoring program to monitor stormwater quality and volume, plant uptake of stormwater pollutants, and habitat value for newly created and restored wetlands in the Pennypack Creek Watershed.
“My expertise is in environmental planning and collaborative planning. As an engineer, I focused a great deal on alternative power — solar energy, passive energy uses in buildings, environmental engineering conservation,” Dr. Mandarano said. “My professional experience incorporates environmental engineering coupled with an urban planning background. I’d like to find a more holistic approach to integrating manmade and natural infrastructures.”
According to Dr. Mandarano, her interests also include sustainable development, ecological design, open space, revitalization of waterfronts, and “social networks” — “examining the personal attributes that link people together; which groups of people naturally link together and which have conflicting interests.”
Dr. Mandarano brings more than 20 years of professional experience in environmental planning and public policy to Ambler College. This experience includes managing the preparation of environmental impact statements, preparing permits, developing public policy, strategic plans and waste management programs and directing a regional marketing program.
She started her own consulting practice in 1998, The Natural Resource, which is certified in Pennsylvania and New York and is based in Philadelphia. Prior to starting her own business, she worked for United Water Services managing the privatization of municipal water and wastewater facilities. She has also worked for consulting engineering firms, which focused on assisting municipalities with their environmental infrastructure.
“I want my students to truly think outside of the box. There are certain aspects of a project that may be dictated or programmatic by its nature, but they don’t necessarily have to take a traditional approach — think beyond it,” she said. “If something similar is taking place, try to engage that in your project as well. For example, if you are developing a stormwater management plan and there is a program in the region to expand open space, mesh the two — examine recreational and stormwater management in the region.”
Dr. Mandarano serves on the Steering Committee for Sustainable Philadelphia, an emerging effort of the Delaware Valley Green Building Council’s Education Program. She holds a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, and M.B.A in Management Science from Iona College, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. She is a licensed professional engineer in both Pennsylvania and New York.
“Without professional planners, there is too much of an opportunity to take a piecemeal approach by divided interests,” she said. “Revitalization of the Philadelphia waterfront, for example, requires a global, integrated vision that serves cultural, commercial, and residential interests.”
CONTACT: James Duffy, 215-283-1290, duffyj@temple.edu, release available by e-mail
