Residents in a suburban area north of Houston can jog, hike, fish or observe nature in a award-winning park system primarily designed by landscape architecture students at Texas A&M.

Student-designed proposals for the future development of two areas along University Drive, created by students at Texas A&M’s College of Architecture, were showcased Jan. 18 in room 102 of the Zachry Engineering Center.

A section of the Langford A building’s rooftop was transformed fall 2012 into a green roof with succulents, grasses and a weather station by an interdisciplinary group of Texas A&M students in phase one of a three-year research initiative.

For the sixth straight year, the landscape architecture degree programs at Texas A&M are rated among the best in the nation in preparing students for professional success in the field, according to rankings published annually by the Design Futures Council, a national interdisciplinary network of design, product and construction leaders.

A federal study aimed at enhancing plant safety throughout the U.S. chemical manufacturing system benefitted from the work of Michael Lindell, a professor of urban planning at Texas A&M University who contributed sections on risk and decision analyses and emergency management.