Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, Clemson University
Maria is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture. She previously taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology, City College of New York, New York University, and Penn State University. Her teaching received two ASLA honor awards in Communication and was featured in publications on landscape representation. In addition to teaching, she is Managing director of Counts Studio where she directs research and design communication for the firm’s projects ranging from small gardens, to parks, plazas, and memorials. Her professional experience includes work with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Reed Hildebrand. Her work emphasizes human health and the well-being of the built environment with a focus on public engagement. Recent research includes, “Sonic City: Visualizing Sounds in Urban Spaces,” awarded a 2018 Van Alen Institute Grant funded by the New York State Council on the Arts. The project uses public parks as case studies to examine natural and artificial sounds for their potential as design elements to reduce stressors in highly urban scenarios. Recent publications include features in John Dixon Hunt’s book, The Making of Place: Modern and Contemporary Landscapes (2016), Representing Landscapes: Hybrid (Routledge: 2016) and Representing Landscapes: Digital (Routledge: 2015). Counts holds a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from Cornell University and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design.
Email: mcounts@clemson.edu