Helena Starnes

EDUCATION
Master of Landscape Architecture, Auburn University, 2024
Bachelor of Science in Biology, William & Mary, 2008
Associate of Applied Science in Horticulture and Landscape Management, Tidewater Community College, 2021

Helena Starnes is a Research Associate in the Auburn University School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. She works with other members of Auburn’s Landscape Infrastructure Design Lab (LIDL) to explore how innovative applications of landscape architecture can be used to strengthen the nation’s coastal communities and the unique, regional ecosystems in which they live.

Starnes is also a graduate of Auburn’s Master of Landscape Architecture program, where she studied how design might respond to the challenges that characterize the landscapes of the Southeastern US, and how landscape architecture can be a means to celebrate the rich cultural and ecological histories of the region.

Prior to her arrival at Auburn, she had a career as an animal trainer and caretaker in Virginia. Working alongside wolves, birds of prey, and a combination of exotic and native animals, she advocated for conservation through public outreach, education, and guided interactions. Her passion for animals followed her into landscape architecture, manifesting as a deep interest in plant-animal interactions.

RESEARCH INTERESTS
Starnes is interested in the memories and emotional relationships that people form with their local landscape. Through design research and studies of theory, she is investigating how to encourage and harness that experiential and emotional component of the landscape as a means to build a stronger sense of environmental affinity in the general public.