I have traveled by land from the Arctic Ocean to southern Chile, with stretches in Peru and northern Chile still to complete. I have photographic and produced watercolors documenting and interpreting the varied landscapes in my travels. My research interests focus on integrating culture and the environment to create sustainable, disaster resilient communities. I teach with an emphasis on urban growth issues and environments at risk as a result of natural hazards and have publications including book chapters on the design of hazard resilient communities in coastal regions and publications exploring phenomenological issues of unique landscapes. I have developed a graduate-level landscape architecture course using field trips to the Lower Rio Grande Valley to introduce students to approaches that integrate culture and history of a unique cultural landscape in the design of historic communities located on both sides of the Rio Grande River in Texas and Mexico. Professor Sharky has a diverse and long-time experience working in different environments and different cultures, largely in regions of natural hazard risk. I was a partner of a landscape architecture firm in Alaska for 15 years prior to coming to LSU.
I have led summer study abroad courses, each summer in the last ten years. The countries where these courses have taken place include: Mexico (multiple times) and once each Portugal, China, and the Netherlands. The focus of these courses explore cross-cultural approaches of design informed by history, culture and the arts in creating culturally responsive physical design of public spaces, parks, communities.
