William Sullivan Profile

by John E. Marlin — last modified July 31, 2008 01:25 PM

Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture

Office Location
350 National Soybean Research Center, MC-636
1101 West Peabody Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: 217-244-5156
Email: wcsulliv@uiuc.edu

Teaching

Welcome to LA 270: Behavioral Factors in Design

Areas of Expertise
Policy & Law, Sociology & Psychology, Ornamental Horticulture, Plant Ecology & Natural Resource Management

Research Interests
My research addresses two broad questions. Does having everyday contact with nature effect a person's functioning? That is, is there a connection between the presence of nature and effective human functioning? How for instance, does nature mitigate the difficulties of life for people who live in urban public housing? The second question concerns the process of changing or managing places: how can information about land development or environmental issues be more effectively communicated among experts, citizens, and policy makers?

Academic Interests/Expertise
I am interested in the ways in which having everyday contact with nature influences human functioning. Along with Professor Kuo and a number of graduate students, we have recently completed studies that examine the effect of everyday contact with nature on aggressive and violent behavior, crimes and other anti-social behaviors, and on the strength of social ties among neighborhs in inner-city neighborhoods.

Research

Scott, R. & Sullivan, W.C. (2008). Ecology of fermented foods. Human Ecology Review, Vol. 15(1), 25-31.

Newton, J.L., Freyfogle, E.T., & Sullivan, W.C. (2007). Land, ecology, and democracy: A twenty-first century view. Politics and the Life Sciences, 25(1-2), 42-56.

Sullivan, W.C. & Lovell, S.T. (2006). Improving the visual quality of commercial development at the rural-urban fringe. Landscape and Urban Planning. 77(1-2), 152-166.