Mintai Kim, Ph.D.,
LEED AP
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
CONTACT INFORMATION
121 Burruss Hall
College of Architecture and
Urban Studies
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
+1.540.231.9872
mintkim@vt.edu
Geodesign.lar.vt.edu
CURRICULUM VITAE
RESEARCH AREAS
Geodesign for resilience
Environmental disturbance
Ecological design
Nightscape design research
Feng Shui and ecology
COURSES TAUGHT
LAR-3044/5044 - Land analysis
LAR-1254 - Environment and
natural systems
LAR-4084 - Land design and
planning
LAR-5774 - Advanced Graduate
Design Lab
Mintai Kim is an Associate Professor and LEED AP. He taught at the University of California at Berkeley and at the University of Arizona before he joined Virginia Tech in 2007.
His research focuses on environmental disturbances resulting from urbanization. He has published peer-reviewed papers and presented research at national and international conferences on urbanization's effects on stream quality, avian species distribution, nighttime light pollution and Geodesign. His current research focus examines disturbances of the urban nightscape, especially as related to light pollution. He developed an innovative way to examine light pollution using helicopters and ground-level light measurements. He also developed ways to reduce light pollution by careful selection of materials. He is currently using eye-tracking devices to understand fear of nightscapes.
In addition, he studies resilience of places and the urban ecosystem regeneration in leftover urban spaces. His study examines an ecosystem's ability to recover when leftover spaces are not touched or actively managed. He is a GeoDesign expert with over 25 years of GIS experience. His research activities were supported by the US EPA, National Park Service, NASA, and others.
EDUCATION
Ph.D, 2001. Environmental Planning, University of California at Berkeley.
MLA, 1994. Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, University of California at Berkeley.
BS, 1988. Landscape Architecture, University of Seoul.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Refereed Journal Articles
Wu, S. & Kim, M. (2016). The Relationship between the Pedestrian Lighting Environment and Perceived Safety, JoDLA, 1-2016:57-61, Jun. 2016.
Han, G. & Kim, M. (2015). Study of Urban Land Cover Changes Relative to Demographic and Resiential Form Changes: A Case Study of Wonju City, Korea. JFES, 31(4):288-296, Nov. 2015.
Kang, Y., & Kim, M. (2015). Application Strategies of Eye-Tracking Method in Nightscape Evaluation. KILA, 43(3): 87-97, Aug. 2015.
Refereed Conference Proceedings
Im, S., Kwon, Y., Jeong, Y., Hue, Y., Byeon, J., Choi, H., & Kim, M. (2015). Mapping the Sense of Place in Insa-dong, Korea. 16th International Conference on Information Technology in Landscape Architecture Proceedings.
Kim, M., Hong, S., & Kang, Y. (2014). Who is Afraid of Light? 2 15th International Conference on Information Technology in Landscape Architecture Proceedings, 331-340.