Julie Sherk

Bio

Area(s) of Expertise

Ms. Sherk is a professor in the Horticultural Science Department and teaches landscape design studios to undergraduate and graduate students. She teaches lecture classes in digital and hand graphics, site planning (grading and drainage), and construction materials and methods. As a faculty of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the College of Design she teaches plant identification, planting design during summer sessions. She serves as chair and member of graduate committees for the Master of Horticultural Science students.

She is dedicated to working with students to create natural, stimulating places that enhance the health of the community and the environment as a whole. Particularly focused on community engaged design and the in the artful use of land forms and plants as design elements, she believes in the critical role they play in improving and enhancing the human/natural experience. To this end, she is interested in opportunities to preserve and protect natural systems and historic resources while incorporating innovative living infrastructure such as bioretention gardens, edible and ornamental landscapes in people’s day to day life.

She has coordinated community engagement projects and executed a variety of service learning projects with her students in her local community and beyond. She has presented at conferences on the topic of the participatory design process, sustainability, and the design of edible landscapes. She has been involved in a broad range of local, national and international projects through her landscape architecture practice, JTSLA, and works for both public and private clients on commercial, resort, mixed-use, zoning and annexation cases and residential projects.

Ms. Sherk used her bilingual abilities to lead a study-abroad course to Córdoba, Mexico during summer 2011. It is a course in community design strategies that involved a service learning design project in which NC State students in conjunction with students from the Universidad Veracruzana, Córdoba developed small urban design improvement projects. Students addressed urban design while focusing on assessing cultural, social, and spatial needs of the community members through social active strategies. Through conducting workshops with the community, students enriched their connection to the local people, and experienced real world applications of the skills introduced in the class.

Courses

• HS 252 – Introduction to Landscape Graphic Communication
• HS 357 – Site Design (grading and drainage) and Construction Materials
• HS 401 – Landscape Construction Studio
• HS 418 – Introduction to Digital Media for Landscape Designers
• LAR 582-001 – Plants in the Landscape
• LAR 582-002 – Planting Design Workshop