Sara Carr
Sara Jensen Carr is an Assistant Professor of Architecture, Urbanism, and Landscape and the Program Director for the Master of Design in Sustainable Urban Environments at Northeastern University in Boston, MA.
She holds an M. Arch from Tulane University and is a licensed architect in the state of Louisiana. Sara was born in Manila, Philippines and primarily grew up on her family’s cattle ranch in the Black Hills of Western South Dakota. She is forever grateful for the Dean’s Honor Scholarship at Tulane, which brought her to the city that is always on her mind and close to her heart. After graduating in 2003, Sara continued to work in New Orleans on projects across the Gulf Coast. Her experience there during and in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina led her to later pursue an MLA and PhD in Environmental Planning from University of California Berkeley. Prior to her current position, she held a joint appointment in the School of Architecture and Office of Public Health Studies at University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
Her writing, research, and design work focus on the connections between urban landscape, ecology, scientific pursuit, and human health. Her timely first book, The Topography of Wellness, on how past and present epidemics have shaped the American landscape, was published in 2021 and received mentions by The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New Republic, CNN, NPR, and the BBC, among others. You can also find Sara’s writing in Places Journal, The Avery Review, LA+ Journal, and the Journal of Architectural Education. Her work has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Graham Foundation, J.M. Kaplan Fund, and the Mellon Foundation. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Boston Society of Architects and works with several nonprofits in Boston and beyond focused on landscape equity and ecological restoration.
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