Dominic L. Fischer

Chair and Associate Professor (Landscape Architecture + DREM)

Faculty

Landscape Architecture Disaster Resilience and Emergency Management

Fischer smiling confidently at camera

Dominic L. Fischer, PLA, MLA, ASLA, is the Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture, Disaster Resilience, and Emergency Management (LADREM) in the School of Design, Architecture, and Art (SoDAA) at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. He earned B.S.E.D. and B.L.A. degrees from NDSU and an M.L.A. degree from the City College of New York and has over 19 years of experience as an award-winning landscape architect and professor. He is a champion collaborator for the University's land-grant mission and has a research record focused on the historical precedents of landscape architecture in the Northern Great Plains. He also actively explores how geospatial and other technologies can be used in interdisciplinary processes to identify, preserve, and improve historic public landscapes.

Areas of Study & Research

My research and creative scholarship examine the historical and geospatial relations between public landscapes and interruptions in both social and natural systems. To understand these relationships, I combine archival data with publicly available geospatial data to create maps that visually show the scale, location, and cost of these impacts. I apply a similar process to my creative works, focusing on public space, primarily street corridors, public plazas, and landscapes. This work has enabled me to apply interdisciplinary methods in published research, blind-juried, award-winning design work, design studio teaching, and creative scholarship and service at the local to international levels.

Other Research Interests

Privately Owned Public Spaces, Landscape Architectural History, Digital and Environmental Twins, Landscape Infrastructure, Urban Design, City-Shaping, Urban Landscape Performance

Courses Taught

LA 451 Urban Design Studio

LA 531 Portfolio Design Seminar

LA 231 Landscape Architecture Graphics

ARCH 189 University Studies Arch/LA (Interim)

LA 351 Residential Landscape Architecture

ARCH 571 Portfolio Design Seminar (Interim)

ENVD 101 Introduction to Environmental Design

ENVD 172 Environmental Design Fundamentals

LA 272 Parks and Open Space Landscape Arch.

LA 231 Landscape Architecture Theory and Graphics

LA 571 Environmental Planning Studios

LA 552 Advanced Landscape Planning

LA 472 Remediation and Planting Design Studio

LA 572 Design Thesis Studio

LA 772 Landscape Architecture Design Thesis Studio

LA 789 Landscape Architecture Graduate Seminar

LA 475/675 City-Shaping Design Studio

LA 476/676 Ecological Design Studio

LA 321 History of Landscape Architecture (Gen. Ed.)

LA 771 Performance-Based Design Studio

DREM 720 Resilience for Designers, Planners, and Man.

Awards & Honors

  1. A 2024, North Dakota State University College of Arts and Sciences, Creative Activity Award. The award is presented annually to one faculty member, nominated and reviewed by an elected committee composed of faculty members in the College, which has 220 full-time faculty members.

  1. A 2023 Award of Merit (Professional Design Built) from the American Society of Landscape Architects Central State Region Honor Award was given to, “Broadway Square”. The award is blind-peer-reviewed and greater-region significant, with competition encompassing the eight US states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. (Completed with a team from REA and Confluence. My role: lead landscape architect of the pre-design, request for partner proposals, selection, and schematic design phases, and partner in concept and construction documentation phases.) Awarded April 20th, 2023, Fayetteville, AK.

  1. A 2019 Award of Merit (Design Unbuilt) from the Nebraska Dakotas Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for the North Dakota Governor's Residence at the State Capitol Grounds. (role: Lead Design Landscape Architect) The award is blind-peer-reviewed and regionally significant, with competition encompassing the three US states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Awarded October 3rd.

  1. A 2019 Award of Merit (Design Built) from the Nebraska Dakotas Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for The Fargo Project: World Garden Commons. (role: Project Landscape Architect) The award is blind-peer-reviewed and regionally significant, with competition encompassing the three US states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Awarded October 3rd.
Other Awards, Honors, and Mentions of Professional Work.

  1. A 2024 Main Street North Dakota Award: Healthy, Vibrant Community Award (Urban) was given to “Broadway Square.” The award is juried and is not blind-peer-reviewed.

  1. A 2022 Governor’s Travel and Tourism Award: Flint Firestarter Award for a Tourism Development Project was given to “Broadway Square”. The award is juried and is not blind-peer-reviewed.

  1. Project of recognition by the NDDOT and the ND State Historical Society for interpretive trail design at the Double Ditch Indian Village State Historic Site, Bismarck, ND, 2010.

  1. Scholarship given by the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture department at the City College of New York for a peer-reviewed conference paper presentation, 2011.

Professional Associations

American Society of Landscape Architects, ND Chapter Conference Planning Committee, 2024-2025

American Society of Landscape Architects, ND Chapter, Executive Committee, 2019-2021

Paper reviewer for Landscape Research Record, Volume 35, 2017, and Volume 44, 2025.

Abstract Reviewer 2013-2018, 2020. Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Annual Conference.

North Dakota liaison, 2012-2015, Historic American Landscape Survey of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Publications

Funded Research:

  1. Fischer, D. L. (Principal 40%), Lu, Juncheng. (Co-PI 30%) Oduor, Peter. (Co-PI 30%), "A Presidential Playbook: Native Seed Supply Strategies for the North Dakota Badlands,” under review by the Bureau of Land Management for the Dept of the Interior, $1,164,000 (Sept. 2025 – Sept. 30, 2030, proposed).

  1. Fischer, D. L. (Principal 10%), Larson, Craig. (Co-PI 50%) Roy, Moumita. (Graduate Teaching Assistant 20%), "Parks and Open Space Design Studio Service Learning” Sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, $10,000 (Jan. 2025 – August 30, 2025).

  1. Fischer, D. L. (Principal 50%), Larson, Craig. (Co-PI 50%). "Union Lake Sarah Campground Master Plan and Native Planting” Sponsored by Terry Bailey, $1,500 (March 2024 – August 30, 2024).

  1. Fischer, D. L. (Principal), Vissilia, A.M. (Co-Principal) "The Landscape Architecture of the 1921 Morell & Nichols Plan for Future Development of Buildings and Grounds: A Historic American Landscape Survey for the North Dakota State University Campus,” Sponsored by Gunlogson Grant Award, $4,540. (Jan. 15, 2021 - Dec. 15, 2022).

  1. Fischer, D. L. (Principal), Vissilia, A.M. (Co-Principal) Rindy, B. (GRA), "Fort Mandan Asset Condition Assessment,” Sponsored by North Plains National Heritage Area Foundation, $10,000. (October 2020 - August 2021).

  1. Fischer, D. L. (Principal), Vissilia, A.M. (Co-Principal) Bartlett, H. (GRA), "On-A-Slant Initiative at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park Asset Condition Assessment,” Sponsored by North Plains National Heritage Area Foundation, $10,000. (October 2020 - August 2021).

  1. Fischer, D. L. (Principal 100%), "Fargo Moorhead Rotary Natural Play Concepts” Sponsored by the FM Rotary Foundation, $500. (March 10th, 2019 – May 10th, 2020).

  1. Fischer, D. L. (Principal 80%), Kirkwood, M. (Co-Principal 10%) Davis-Kollman, M. (Co-Principal GSA 10%), "Bismarck Mandan Missouri River Rail Bridge,” Sponsored by North Plains National Heritage Area Foundation, $10,000. (May 11, 2019 – September 30, 2019).

  1. Fischer, D. L. (Principal 80%), Schmidt, A. (Graduate Research Assistant 20%), "Bismarck Mandan Missouri River Rail Bridge, Physical Model for Public Interaction” Sponsored by North Plains National Heritage Area Foundation, $1,000. (November 2019 – March 30, 2020).

  1. Fischer, D. L. (Principal), Kirkwood, M. (Co-Principal) Yang, S. (Co-Principal), "Columbarium and Cemetery Expansion Research and Master Planning,” Sponsored by North Dakota National Guard, State, $8,705. (May 11, 2018 – June 30, 2019).

  1. Fischer, D. L. (Principal), Kirkwood, M. (Co-Principal), "Northern Plains National Heritage Area Planning," Sponsored by National Park Service, Northern Plains Heritage Foundation, North Dakota State University, $23,181.00. (July 15, 2017 - May 30, 2018).

  1. Kavasseri, R. (Principal), Cao, D. (Co-Principal: 10%), Fischer, D. (Co-Principal), Srivastava M. (CoPrincipal), Zhang, Q. (Co-Principal: 20%), "SCC-Planning: ZER0H: Zero Energy Ready Homes,"Sponsored by NSF, Federal, $99,122.00. (September 1, 2017 - August 31, 2018).

  1. Co-Principal Investigator, “Augmented Reality Sand Table”. North Dakota State University, Technology Action Plan, $13,625, 2016.

  1. Co-Principal Investigator, “Environmental Photography and Planning in the Bakken”. North Dakota State University, Dean’s Challenge Grant for Interdisciplinary Research and Creative Activity, $5,000, 2015-2016.

  1. Co-Principal Investigator, “Anticipatory Preservation Planning: protections of rural cultural and physical landscape”. North Central Regional Center for Rural Development Grant for $11,112,2014-2015

  1. Google Earth Pro Grant for the Google Earth Education Initiative. $36,000 software value for classroom research, presentation and collaboration. 2012- 2014.

  1. North Dakota State University faculty travel grants from the offices of the Dean, Provost, and for research and creative activities, including research presentations, from 2014 to present: $40,000+ total.

Book Chapter:
  1. Fischer, D. “Reassessing Small Urban Spaces: Is Whyte Still Right?” In Revisiting Social Factors: Advancing Research into People and Place, 55-72. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015.
Journal Papers:

  1. Mou, Jannatul, and Fischer, D.L.(expected publication date Feb. 2026). “Analyzing Floristic Quality Assessment Scores for Restored and Remnant Native Prairie at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library: A Local Provenance Approach”. Accepted for publication in Landscape Research Record No. 9.

  1. Rahman, Muhammad Ashifur, and Fischer, D.L. 2025 Assessing Acoustic Comfort and User Preferences in Urban Parks: A Comparative Study of Soundwalk and Questionnaire Survey Data. Landscape Research Record No. 8.

  1. Fischer, D.L. and Kirkwood, M.L.E. 2022. Seeing the Petrochemical Landscapes of the Bakken. Landscape Journal. 41:61-76.

  1. Fischer, D.L. and Kirkwood, M.L.E. 2019. Engaged Fields: Through Landscape Photography and Landscape Architecture Links. Accepted to Landscape Research Record. No. 6. on July 13th, 2019. *(decision made by authors to seek publication in a higher impact journal)

  1. Fischer, D. and Fischer H., 2016. “A Collaborative Heritage Preservation Process for Oil Field Communities.” In Landscape Research Record. No. 5.

  1. Kirkwood, M.L.E. and D. Fischer, 2015. “Mending Views: The Intersection of Environmental Photography and Planning in western North Dakota”, In Exposure Journal, Volume 49.1.

Presentations

  1. Fischer, D.L. and Mou, Jannatul. “Analyzing Floristic Quality Assessment Scores for Restored and Remnant Native Prairie at Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library: A Local Provenance Approach.” 2025. Presented at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, Portland, OR March 26-29.

  1. Budhatoki, Sunita and Fischer, D.L. "Analyzing Mobile Phone Data to Improve Walkability and Identify Critical Infrastructure Needs in Medora, ND." 2024. Presented at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, St. Louis, MO March 20-23.

  1. Rahman, Muhammad Ashifur and Fischer, D.L. Assessing Acoustic Comfort and User Preferences in Urban Parks: A Comparative Study of Soundwalk and Questionnaire Survey Data. 2024. Presented at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, St. Louis, MO March 20-23.

  1. Rahman, Muhammad Ashifur and Fischer, D.L. Assessing Acoustic Comfort and User Preferences in Urban Parks: A Comparative Study of Soundwalk and Questionnaire Survey Data. 2024. Presented at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, St. Louis, MO March 06-09.

  1. Fischer, D.L., Song, Y., Kollman-Davis, M. 2019. Commemoration, Accessibility, and Efficiency: Using Two-Dimensional Path of Travel Prediction Software for Historic Veterans Cemetery Expansions. Presented at The Environmental Design Research Association Annual Conference, Brooklyn, New York, May 22-26.

  1. Fischer, D. L., Song, Y., Montoya, C. 2019. Utilizing Two-Dimensional Path of Travel Prediction Software to Optimize Desirable and Efficient Infill of Declining Shopping Mall Sites. Presented at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, Sacramento, CA March 06-09.

  1. Fischer, D. L. and Kirkwood, M.L. 2019. Engaged Fields: Through Landscape Photography and Landscape Architecture Links. Presented at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, Sacramento, CA March 06-09.

  1. Song, Y., Fischer, D. 2018. Identifying Superior Connections: Using Hyper-Local Data Aggregation Tools for Sense of Place Assessment in Duluth, MN. Presented at The Environmental Design Research Association Annual Conference, Oklahoma City, OK June 06-10.

  1. Fischer, D. L. 2017. Morrell and Nichols' Historical Park as an influential setting for North Dakota's Art Deco Capitol Building Presented at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, Beijing, China May 25-28.

  1. Fischer, D. and Fischer, H., 2016. A Collaborative Heritage Preservation Process for Oil Field Communities, Presented at the Council for Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT March 23-26.

  1. Kirkwood, M. and Fischer, D., 2016. Weldon Gratton’s Panoramic Overlook for Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Presented at the Council for Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT March 23-26.

  1. Fischer, D., Kirkwood, M., and Pepple, K. 2014. Oil in the Fields: Mapping, Fracking, and Landscape Architects, Presented at the American Society of Landscape Architects National Conference, Denver, CO November 6-9.*

  1. Fischer, D., Chambers, M., and Fischer, H. 2014. Mapping the Bakken Oil Formation: New Depictions from within and without the Dome, Presented at The Environmental Design Research Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA May 28-31.

  1. Fischer, D. 2014. HWS Cleveland in North Dakota: Island Park and the shadow of a century without landscape architects, Presented at the Council for Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD March 26-29.

  1. Fischer, D. 2013. Sustaining Small Urban Spaces: Is Whyte Still Right, Presented at the Council for Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, Champagne-Urbana, IL March 28-31.

  1. Fischer, D. 2011. The Sociospatial Implications of New York City’s Pocket Parks, Presented at The Death + Life of Social Factors Conference at the University of California, Berkeley CA April29 – May 1.
Peer-Reviewed Poster Presentations:

  1. Fischer, D. and Kost, J. 2015. Analyzing and Integrating the Landscape Architecture Body of Knowledge Study data into professional Landscape Architecture curriculums, Presented at the Council for Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference, Manhattan, KS March 26-29.