Spotlight: Aubrey Sanders, ENVD ’23

Aubrey Sanders is a student of the Environmental Design program (ENVD) minoring in economics who has been recognized for their ongoing research and practice in ecological urbanism. Since 2017, Aubrey has been the owner and operator of ASDesign, which provides environmental design services internationally. They are also a member and leader of multiple design and planning organizations. Recently, Aubrey’s research project “Montgomery, Alabama: Urban Policy and Development in the River Region” was accepted for presentation at the 2022 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). Aubrey’s research project represents an ongoing effort to improve regional equity and sustainability. Aubrey intends to continue their education into graduate school to study urban planning and urban design.

When approached regarding their approach to environmental design, Aubrey responded, “I have always been fascinated by the systems that conduct society and the environment. Anthropological development is akin to a living organism with patterns of life, death, and evolution. These patterns are not random, but rather an organized labyrinth of independent actions and events. It saddens me deeply to observe the growing disparities, ecological collapse, and social fragmentation of our time. The beauty of environmental design is its ability to understand such patterns in a multidisciplinary manner, wherefore the designer may intentionally form spaces to facilitate a certain outcome. With ecological urbanism and environmental design principles, I believe that there is tremendous potential to transform our world for the benefit of all life on earth, not merely humans and most certainly not merely a subset of humans. We are life’s greatest chance of survival, and we ought not forget how fragile it truly is.”

To learn more about Aubrey Sanders, visit:  www.aubreysandersdesign.com

To view Aubrey’s recent National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) work, please visit:  https://aub.ie/AubreySanders