Complex societal challenges rarely fit neatly within one discipline, organization, or sector. My work examines how strategic communication, research translation, and design can help people and institutions understand complex systems, coordinate action, and build resilience under uncertainty.
My career spans higher education, applied research, entrepreneurship, and organizational leadership. Across these settings, I have connected scholarship with practice, scientific knowledge with public decision-making, and institutional priorities with community needs.
My work has developed through a consistent progression: from designing effective environments, to studying how environments communicate meaning and shape behavior, to examining how ecological and technological systems influence resilience, health, and adaptation. This background informs my interdisciplinary approach to strategic communication, environmental symbology, systems thinking, and human-centered design.
My research and practice encompass community resilience, environmental communication, risk and crisis communication, environmental health, One Health, food systems, human-computer interaction, educational innovation, and translational science. I study how communication influences trust, collaboration, belonging, adaptation, and evidence-informed decisions.
As an educator and academic leader, I have developed interdisciplinary curricula and programs, directed research laboratories, led assessment and accreditation initiatives, managed grants and sponsored projects, and built partnerships among universities, government agencies, nonprofits, healthcare organizations, and community stakeholders. My scholarship has been cited across architecture, psychology, education, human-computer interaction, engineering, sustainability, economics, military studies, and environmental design.
In the classroom, I help students move from research to insight, from insight to strategy, and from strategy to communication that people can understand and use. My teaching emphasizes audience and stakeholder research, strategic thinking, persuasive verbal and visual communication, collaborative project development, and the translation of complex evidence for professional and public audiences.
I believe communication is more than the transmission of information. It is how social, organizational, technological, and ecological systems establish meaning, coordinate action, and adapt. My goal is to help researchers, institutions, and communities turn knowledge into decisions—and decisions into more resilient futures.
Education
2024 PhD, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama. Major: Forestry. Design Ecology & Outreach. Supervisors: Dr. Bruce G. Lockaby, College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Environment and Dr. Sarah Zohdy, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tan, L. (2024) The Design Ecology of Backyard Flocks: Design Interventions to Improve Biosecurity. Doctoral dissertation, Auburn University. https://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/9298
2008 MFA, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. Major: Interior Design. Environmental Symbology. Supervisor: Dr. Jill Pable, College of Visual Arts, Theatre, and Dance.
Clark, L. (2008) Symbology of Interior Design: A Preliminary Typological Study of the Theories of Christopher Day. Master’s thesis, Florida State University. http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-3594
2005 BS, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. Major: Interior Design. Philosophy (minor). Supervisor: Peter Munton, School of Visual Arts and Dance. Cum Laude.
Certification
2024 Horticultural Professional – Setting of Landscape Plants (SLP), Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries. Alabama.
2019 Prescribed Burn Manager (PBM), Alabama Forestry Commission. Cert. No. 2384. Alabama.
2016 LEED Green Classroom Professional (LEED GCP), U.S. Green Building Council. United States.
2012 Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC), The Center for Health Design. Cert. No. CHD-05-9280. United States.
2012 National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ), Council for Interior Design Qualification. Cert. No. 29188. United States.
Academic Appointments
2023–2026 Director, Design Ecology Lab, in partnership with Auburn University
2018–2023 Reed Professor, College of Human Sciences, Auburn University
- Director, CHS Pathogen Lab (2020-2023)
- Global Faculty, Master of Development Practice (2020-2023)
2017–2018 Associate Professor, College of Human Sciences
- Program Coordinator, Interior Design (2017-2023)
- Director, Design Ecology Lab (2017-2023)
2011–2017 Assistant Professor, College of Human Sciences, Auburn University
- Allied Faculty, Center for Health Ecology and Equity Research (2016-2019)
- Graduate Faculty, MS/PhD Consumer and Design Sciences (2013-2023)
2008–2011 Assistant Professor, College of Human Ecology, Kansas State University
- Executive Leadership, Powercat Enhanced, Office of the Vice President (2009-2011)
2006–2008 Graduate Teaching Assistant, College of Visual Arts, Theatre, and Dance,
Florida State University
- Graduate Research Assistant, School of Communication (2008)
- Instructor of Record, College of Visual Arts, Theatre, and Dance (2007-2008)
- Academic Coordinator, Online Learning @ FSU (2006)
2001–2004 Inquiry Specialist, Office of Distributed and Distance Learning,
Florida State University
Selected Professional Practice
2024–Present Fractional Chief Systems Officer, Nat 20 Ventures LLC, Opelika, Alabama
2024–Present Director of Operations, Family Roots Nursery and Garden Center,
Opelika, Alabama
2020–2024 Director of Learning and Development, West Second Street LLC,
Opelika, Alabama
2013–2020 Director of Design Strategy, West Second Street LLC, Opelika, Alabama
2008–2011 Design Strategist, Reclaiming Space LLC, Manhattan, Kansas
Selected Honors
Exemplary Assessment Practices, Office of Academic Insight, Auburn University (2023).
Most Innovative Educator, Top Hat Educator Awards (2022).
Most Admired Educator, DesignIntelligence (2019).