Dr Camilla Allen
BA MA PhD
School of Architecture and Landscape
Lecturer in Landscape Architecture
Fellow of Advance HE
Full contact details
School of Architecture and Landscape
Arts Tower
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
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I am a landscape architect and historian, but that hasn’t always been the case. My first degree was in illustration and I worked in PR in a busy children’s books publisher in London before deciding to change career. I moved to Sheffield in 2012 to study landscape architecture as I had felt compelled to make a positive contribution to society and the environment through design and, although this seems idealistic, it is also the ethos that drew me towards a career in teaching and research.
After completing my MA at the ±¬ÁÏTV I was awarded a University Scholarship to continue my research on the 20th century forester and environmentalist Richard St. Barbe Baker (1889-1982). My PhD provided me with the opportunity to take a deep dive into the archives in the UK and Canada which formed the basis of my study of the formative years of Baker’s life. My research to date is driven by my interest in how a study of trees and tree planting can help uncover and articulate contemporary and historic values and aspirations. I find that this is both a rich and rewarding field of inquiry which has led to further research on the conservation of California’s coast redwoods, Britain’s tree cathedrals, and the planting of commemorative trees.
Since completing my thesis I have edited The Politics of Street Trees (Routledge, 2022) with Dr Jan Woudstra — a book that brought together thirty contributors to examine the contested place of trees in urban life — and worked as Research Associate on the AHRC-funded project 'Women of the Welfare Landscape' led by Professor Luca Csepely-Knorr at the University of Liverpool. More recently, my research has expanded in two directions: into the cultural and ecological consequences of ash dieback, explored through an arts-research collaboration with the Heavy Water Collective; and into the history and future of permaculture food forests, working with the Permaculture Association to examine how productive landscapes can address food equity and climate resilience.
Alongside my research and teaching, I am committed to scholarship that reaches beyond the academy. I co-chaired a group that commissioned the Sheffield Street Tree Plaque, unveiled in March 2026 in recognition of the campaigners who challenged the council over the loss of street trees during the city's controversial felling programme — a project that brought together community activists, artists, and local historians. I have spoken about trees and landscapes on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 5 Live, given sold-out public lectures in Sheffield, and actively contribute to the Sheffield Street Tree Partnership as one of the University's representatives.
- Qualifications
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- BA Illustration, University of the West of England
- MA Landscape Architecture, ±¬ÁÏTV
- PhD Landscape Architecture, ±¬ÁÏTV
- Fellow of Advance HE
- Research interests
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My research reflects my interest in the history of environmentalism in the 20th century and its relevance to contemporary practice, and sits within the environmental humanities. Many of my enquiries have had quite simple questions at their start: how did Richard St. Barbe Baker’s early life shape his environmental philosophy? Why was the word ‘grove’ critical to the protection of California’s coast redwoods? And can you ‘move’ a memorial made of trees? All have had trees at their centre, but ultimately I am interested in people — in how through answering these questions we can find out more about how we inhabit, imagine, and care for the world around us.
My current research sits across three threads: the cultural history of trees and the people who have advocated for their planting and protection; landscapes as sites of care, welfare, and equity; and an emerging, more speculative practice exploring what landscape history and the humanities can offer to the urgent challenges of climate breakdown, food insecurity, and biodiversity loss. I am particularly interested in the overlooked contributions of women to tree planting and landscape protection — a strand of research that connects my postdoctoral work on the Women of the Welfare Landscape to new projects on the history of arboreal advocacy and its relevance to contemporary practice.
I am a member of the Situated Humanities research cluster.
- Publications
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Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Books
- . Routledge.
Journal articles
- . Public Humanities, 1.
- . Landscape Research.
- . Landscape Research, 49(1), 129-145.
Book chapters
- Roots of Resilience: Cultural Values of the Vernon Oak In Woudstra J & Ren X (Ed.), Case Studies in Architecture and Landscape Expanding the Legacy of Peter Blundell Jones (pp. 108-117). Routledge
- , Politics of Street Trees (pp. 110-122).
- Groves as metaphor for the fragmented redwood forests of California In Roth C & Woudstra J (Ed.), A History of Groves Abingdon: Routledge.
All publications
Books
- Women of the Welfare Landscape exhibition catalogue. Manchester: The Modernist Society.
- . Routledge.
Journal articles
- . Public Humanities, 1.
- . Landscape Research.
- . Landscape Research, 49(1), 129-145.
Book chapters
- Roots of Resilience: Cultural Values of the Vernon Oak In Woudstra J & Ren X (Ed.), Case Studies in Architecture and Landscape Expanding the Legacy of Peter Blundell Jones (pp. 108-117). Routledge
- , Case Studies in Architecture and Landscape Expanding the Legacy of Peter Blundell Jones (pp. 108-117).
- In Woudstra J & Allen C (Ed.), The Politics of Street Trees (pp. 386-396). Abingdon: Routledge.
- In Woudstra J & Allen C (Ed.), The Politics of Street Trees (pp. 1-13). Abingdon: Routledge.
- , Politics of Street Trees (pp. 110-122).
- In Woudstra J & Allen C (Ed.), The Politics of Street Trees (pp. 151-164). Abingdon: Routledge.
- , The Politics of Street Trees (pp. 110-122). Routledge
- Three Cathedrals of Trees: from allegory to architecture In Wolschke-Bulmahn J & Clark R (Ed.), From Garden Art to Landscape Architecture Traditions, Re-Evaluations, and Future Perspectives Akademische Verlagsgemeinschaft München AVM
- Groves as metaphor for the fragmented redwood forests of California In Roth C & Woudstra J (Ed.), A History of Groves Abingdon: Routledge.
Book reviews
- . Arboricultural Journal, 47(2), 158-160.
- . Green Letters, 29(2), 243-245.
- . Green Letters, 29(1), 96-97.
Reports
- Stories of Living with Nature
Exhibitions
- Women of the Welfare Landscape. Various, including Kingston University, East Kilbride Library, Birmingham City University, Universit.
Posters
- Three Cathedrals of Trees: from allegory to architecture. From Garden Art to Landscape Architecture.
Theses
- The Making of the Man of the Trees.
- Research group
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I currently supervise the following PhD students:
- Mohammad Sarim (first supervisor)
- Tarja Rannisto, School of Geography and Planning (second supervisor)
- Ahmad Houldar (second supervisor)
- Grants
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- ±¬ÁÏTV Doctoral Scholarship (2015-2018).
- Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation (LACF) and Canada UK Foundation grant to travel to Canada and undertake research at the University of Saskatchewan (2015).
- Landscape Research grant to travel to Kenya and Ethiopia (2016).
- Royal Horticultural Society bursary to attend an international conference on First World War commemorative tree avenues (2018).
- Research Development and Impact funding, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Liverpool, to travel to South Africa (2023).
- Festival of the Mind project grant, £4,900 (2026) — Ashes to Ashes (with Heavy Water Collective).
- NIHR SPHR transdisciplinary placement award, £4,136 (2026) — The public health landscape of food equity.
- Teaching activities
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- Module coordinator for Landscape Research as Creative Practice (LSC407) and Final Project (LSC413).
- Module coordinator for Histories of Landscape Architecture (ALA116) and Landscape Humanities 2 (ALA463).
- Module coordinator for Histories of Landscape Architecture (ALA116), Landscape Humanities 2 (ALA463) and Exploration of Contemporary Landscapes (ALA216)
- Professional activities and memberships
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- ECR Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
- Trustee of the Yorkshire Gardens Trust.
- Sheffield Street Tree Partnership .
- Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE UK)
- European Society for Environmental History
- BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker (shortlisted)
- Co-chair, Sheffield Street Tree Plaque commissioning group
- SAHGB ECR Network Co-convenor
- East-West Studies in Architecture and Landscape