Ms. Ellie (Elham) Nasr-Azadani

Pennsylvania State University

My name is Ellie Nasr-Azadani; I am a Ph.D. candidate (ABD) in the Geography Department. I am a member of the Riparia center and recently joined the Landscape Ecology at Penn State lab (LEAPS). Before coming to Penn State, I earned my bachelor's and masters in environmental engineering.

My Ph.D. research primarily focuses on engaging Landscape Visualization, from hand sketches to complicated Immersive Experiences, for competency-based sustainability education. We have various ways to define competencies, but regarding sustainability, it is a combination of knowledge with skill and attitude, which enables individuals to act and behave concerning the environment. My research will be conducted in the Menominee Forest, Wisconsin, where we use qualitative questionnaires to see how 3D interactive landscape visualization can help with systems learning and systems thinking. Improving competency among stakeholders, we expect to implement better practices on Earth, which eventually leads to better adaptation to future uncertainties.