A registered professional planner, Lister has post-graduate training in ecology, environmental science, and landscape planning, and urban planning. As a researcher, teacher, and practitioner, Lister uses an integrated design-research approach to explore resilience and adaptive systems design in urbanizing regions. Emphasizing ecosystem complexity and biodiversity, her work is positioned at the confluence of landscape, ecology, and urbanism. She founded PLANDFORM in 2006.
Professional career
At Ryerson University, Lister founded and directs the Ecological Design Lab, a collaborative incubation innovator and experimental generator that aims to advance ecological design research and practice. She is a member of the Ryerson Urban Water Centre, where she contributes work on designing resilient green and blue infrastructure for flood-friendly cities. Since 2016, her work has been funded by a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant and a Graham Foundation publication grant. In her professional practice, Lister regularly collaborates with international design firms on submissions to juried competitions and exhibitions, with a particular focus on speculative and built works in metropolitan areas. In 2010, she served as the Professional Advisor for the ARC International Wildlife Crossing Design Competition, which focused on creating a wildlife bridge at the Vail Pass in Colorado. Her work has been featured in international exhibitions, including the 2016 Venice Architectural Biennale, where she contributed to Canada's entry, EXTRACTION, an examination of Canada's role as a global resource juggernaut. She is the curator and director of XING - connecting landscapes, a permanent exhibition at the Toronto Zoo exploring the relationship between wildlife, human development, and urban infrastructure. She is the co-editor of Projective Ecologies and The Ecosystem Approach: Complexity, Uncertainty, and Managing for Stability. In addition to authoring over 40 professional and scholarly articles, including contributions to Design With Nature Now, Nature & Cities: The Ecological Imperative in Urban Planning & Design, Is Landscape…Essays on the Identity of Landscape, Ecological Urbanism, and Large Parks, Lister has served as guest editor of the Journal of Ecological Restoration. Lister was awarded an honorary membership in the American Society of Landscape Architects in recognition of her international leadership in ecological design. She was also named Senior Scholar with the Centre for Humans and Nature in 2012.
Major publications (editor)
Projective Ecologies
The Ecosystem Approach: Complexity, Uncertainty, and Managing for Stability
