Jessica Henson teaches design studios in the Department of Landscape Architecture. Jessica is a Partner at OLIN where she leads planning and design projects that seek to create socially and environmentally resilient infrastructure including the Los Angeles County LA River Master Plan and the Rio Hondo Confluence Area Project. Her other significant projects include Chicago’s Vista Tower, a new residential precinct at the University of Washington in Seattle, the new U.S. Embassies in London and Brasilia, the O’Hare Global Terminal, the SELA Cultural Center, and the LA River Index. Jessica’s work explores the relationships between hydrological, cultural, and social contexts. Specifically, she explores how landscape architects can create anticipatory design solutions that create more equitable communities in both urban and rural settings and respond to issues relating to flooding and water resources. In her design, teaching, and research she seeks to broaden the scope of the profession by thinking holistically about the places we live, why we live there, and the environmental, economic, and social effects of our settlement patterns. Jessica is the author of “Wet + Dry: Rethinking the Mississippi River Cross-Section,” a study on Upper Mississippi communities exploring the relationships between income, topography, and flooding along the river.

Jessica has taught at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Pennsylvania. She is co-editor of the book Fresh Water: Design Research for Inland Water Territories, which focuses on the shared hydrosocial histories and water issues of the major inland watersheds of the North American Continent.