Recently, Dr. Bryce Lowery from the Division of Regional and City Planning collaborated with a team from the University of Oklahoma’s College of Allied Health at the OU Health and Sciences Center to publish a series of three papers that explore the relationship between Early Care and Education settings in Oklahoma and access to park space and grocery stores.
The first article, published in June in Current Developments in Nutrition, found that child care settings might provide a protective nutritional micro-environment for small children even in areas designated as food deserts.
The second article, published in the July issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, found that grocery store availability influences classroom nutritional practices in family care settings – more so than in Head Starts or community-based child care settings.
The third article, published in June in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, explored relationships between early child care centers and access to parks and playgrounds. The team of researchers found that family child care settings were more sensitive to a lack of nearby green space, but overall, child care centers provide a protective activity environment for small children.
Dr. Bethany Williams of Washington State University led the research team that included: Dr. Bryce Lowery of the Gibbs College of Architecture Division of Regional and City Planning; Dr. Susan Sission of College of Allied Health OU Health Sciences Center; Dr. Dipti Dev of the College of Education and Human Sciences University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Dr. Diane Horm of the Early Childhood Education Institute University of Oklahoma-Tulsa; and others from the OU College of Allied Health and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to recognize Petya Stefanoff, who is pursuing her doctorate in the Planning, Design & Construction (PDC) program, has been appointed the new role of Director of Community Development for the City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. She joined the city in 2024.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design and director of the Institute for Quality Communities, has received national recognition for her book Model Schools in the Model City. The book has been named a finalist for the 2026 the PROSE Awards.
Gibbs College of Architecture Regional + City Planning Professor of Practice Vanessa Morrison and Associate Professor of Architecture Deborah Richards’ Open Design Collective received top honors at the inaugural BlackSpace Urbanist Collective Studio KIN Pitch Night Competition, held last month in Brooklyn, New York City.
