In 2017, Kathryn Gleason launched an undergraduate community-engaged landscape architecture studio with the Akwesasne community on the St. Regis Mohawk reservation. Now she is building upon that studio — and subsequent student internships — to offer LA 6010, a graduate landscape architecture studio in which students and community partners will develop a landscape plan for their Senior Housing, featuring a community center and boardwalk through a wetland area rich in culturally significant plants and wildlife.

In addition, Gleason is currently a senior fellow in the Studies of Gardens and Designed Landscapes at Dumbarton Oaks, a research institution of Harvard University in Washington, DC. In her advisory role, she is combining her perspective on ancient landscapes from archaeological research in the Mediterranean with the work of her landscape architecture studios with indigenous communities to bring a post-colonial approach to the future of American landscape architectural design that challenges the tabula rasa and New World paradigms.  The Engaged Faculty Fellowship will enable her to develop mentors and partners for future events at Cornell and Dumbarton Oaks.