Daniel Lim (MLA ’25) is a Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) student at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). He will be graduating on May 1. Lim is the recipient of the 2025 Anthony and Johanna van Sweden Landscape Architecture Award from SEAS and the 2025 Student Honor Award from the Michigan chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. 

What did you do before coming to SEAS?

I graduated from the University of Vermont in 2009, where I studied ecological design, which is very similar to landscape architecture. Then I earned my first master's degree in city and regional planning from the Pratt Institute in 2012, which focused on community-based planning mostly around environmental justice and disaster planning. I worked for 10 years before deciding to come back to grad school to get my MLA degree.

What drew you to SEAS and the MLA degree?

When I was studying ecological design in college, I was introduced to landscape architecture and knew that I wanted to study it. But then life took its own turn and I went back home to New York City. There was no master's-level landscape architecture program in the city at that time, so I earned my city planning degree instead. After working for 10 years, I was reflecting on where I was in my career at that point and how there was a creative side of me that was not being engaged, and I remembered that I wanted to study landscape architecture.

I was drawn to the MLA program at SEAS because of its ecological design focus. I wanted to learn landscape architecture that was rooted in healing the ecologies of places through a rigorous application of the ecological sciences. I also love plants, and I wanted to study at a school that would teach me about plants really well. SEAS checks those two boxes, and I’ve been really happy with the classes I've taken in ecological design and plants. 

In addition, I was drawn to SEAS’ capstone requirement. I knew that I wanted to work with Indigenous communities, which requires special protocols and sensitivities. Because of SEAS’ Environmental Justice specialization and Professor Kyle White, I knew there would be real opportunities through the capstone path to do design work with an Indigenous community. I did my capstone with the Native Hawaiian community on the island of Moloka‘i to design a food resilience center, and it’s been one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve ever had. 

Lastly, I chose SEAS because when I came to Admitted Student Visit Day, I was really enamored with how warm and welcoming the school was. It was very different from my experience with admitted student days at other universities, and that made a huge difference. 

What has your SEAS experience been like?

It’s been a really great experience. The Student Center, faculty and staff have all been supportive, and SEAS Assistant Dean Kim Elliot is amazing. She remembers everyone's names and always asks how I am, and she really sets the tone for the culture here. I’m also part of the Next-Gen Scholars Program, and even though I’m a non-traditional student who didn't require a lot of resources or support, it was good to know those were available if I needed them, particularly through that program. I also have a good cohort; my classmates are all very collaborative, so that's been good as well.

One of my best memories at SEAS was taking Herbaceous Flora & Ecosystems with SEAS Lecturer Mike Kost. He’s a great teacher and his love for plants is contagious and makes the long labs really fun. It was a field-based class, so every Friday we spent six hours immersed in a site somewhere in Michigan. It was so rewarding being outside and learning to identify plants and their ecology. And Mike would always tell the landscape architecture students which plants are good for landscaping, which was helpful. I also enjoyed the Ecological Planting Design Studio class with Assistant Professor of Practice Lisa DuRussel. It was an MLA core class and I loved it because we weren’t just designing in studio, we were working with plants and soil with our bare hands. The class taught us how to fuse our plant knowledge and landscape design in an applied way through small, real-life projects like installing a rain garden at Ypsilanti Middle School. 

Would you recommend SEAS to other prospective students?

MLA programs differ widely, so if a student really wanted an MLA education that was grounded in ecological design, plants and soil ecology, SEAS is a great place for that and I highly recommend it. We have amazing faculty who are practitioners as well as academic researchers, and you get a really diverse, well-rounded education that you can take in any direction you want to go. I really love the interdisciplinary nature of SEAS; you get to take classes that are outside the MLA discipline that are really amazing, like plant classes and environmental justice classes. I also recommend that you have some work experience or life experience, as well as clarity, before coming to grad school. SEAS is a great place with amazing opportunities, faculty and resources, but a student should know what they're here to do to make the best of their SEAS experience.

What will you do after graduation?

I want to be a practicing landscape architect working in a design firm. I’m really interested in doing design work that is focused on ecological restoration and is driven by community engagement and values. I’m actively applying for jobs right now. I’m open to staying in the Midwest, but my first choice would be New Mexico, which is one of my favorite states. I love the desert, and everything about New Mexico, including its culture and landscape, are beautiful. I also would like to work with Indigenous communities, and New Mexico is a great place to do that because of how prominent Indigenous cultures are in the state.