Charlene LeBleu Honored at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference

Charlene LeBleu, Associate Professor and Interim Head of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, has woven outreach and service learning into her teaching and scholarship throughout her academic career. She has used her expertise in water quality issues and low impact development design to benefit communities throughout Alabama. For her distinguished record of impactful service, LeBleu received the Excellence in Service-Learning Award (Senior Level) at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Annual Conference in Beijing, China on May 28, 2017.

“Prof. LeBleu’s enthusiasm and compassion are grounded in deep design and planning expertise, which appeal to people’s highest aspirations,” says Vini Nathan, Dean and McWhorter Endowed Chair in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction. “She has facilitated numerous charrettes through which citizens of small towns and underserved communities ideate and implement strategies for economic development and civic pride. Prof. LeBleu richly deserves the honor of the CELA Award for Excellence in Service-Learning.”

Comprised of 120 institutions from around the world, CELA encourages, supports and furthers education in the field of landscape architecture, specifically related to teaching, research, scholarship and public service. CELA’s Excellence in Service-Learning Award (Senior Level) honors a faculty member with ten or more years of teaching experience who has demonstrated accomplishments in the area of outreach or service-learning.

LeBleu was installed as First Vice-President/President Elect at the CELA Annual Conference. She is the first Auburn landscape architecture faculty member to serve in this leadership role.  LeBleu is the former Editor-in-Chief of Landscape Research Record, the official conference proceedings of the annual CELA conference, and a previous Vice-President of Research and Creative Scholarship (2014 – 2016).

“It is a great honor to receive the Excellence in Service Learning Award from my peers from across the Nation and beyond,” says LeBleu. “It is also humbling to be chosen to be to be a part of the Executive Committee and have a part in translating CELA’s future vision into reality.”

A faculty member in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture since 2006, LeBleu’s primary areas of interest and research have been focused on coastal planning and design, and water quality issues, especially issues related to low impact development design. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), and a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). LeBleu was among the first group of Auburn faculty to receive an inaugural Auburn University Spirit of Sustainability Award for her applied scholarship in sustainability, using real world projects to teach students and communities how to work with natural systems rather than trying to control them.