Bio

Arthi Rao has had a consistent research focus in Built Environment and Health throughout her career. She currently works as a research assistant at the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (CQGRD) under Dr. Catherine Ross, as part of her doctoral studies in Urban Planning. She has made research contributions to several Health Impact Assessments as part of the research team at CQGRD. Her doctoral coursework and research combine Sustainable Urban Planning and Epidemiological methods at multiple scales. The larger philosophical framework which informs her research are the transformative processes that occur in the formulation of policy to the three-dimensional experience of a healthful place.

Arthi has extensive interdisciplinary education, practice and teaching experience in the built environment disciplines (Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning). Prior to attending Georgia Tech, she was a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Clemson University. During her tenure there, she taught a variety of courses spanning design, graphics & technology at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Her previous research and project work have focused on health-based topics and their manifestation in the built environment. She has published and presented her work in conferences on the topics of Health Impact Assessment, therapeutic landscapes and multiculturalism.  She has a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture form Penn State and a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from India. She has practiced as an architect in Bangalore, India.