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bio

Jacob Torkelson is a Senior Research Associate at the Urban Heritage Project, based in the Weitzman School of Design’s Department of Historic Preservation and PennPraxis. 

Since joining the Urban Heritage Project in 2018, he has worked at eight national parks, totaling over 2300+ pages of research. His work assesses the history and condition of historic sites, leveraging his expertise in design and preservation planning to guide their future management. Torkelson and the UHP team craft their recommendations through robust community engagement and participatory design processes that often include interviews, oral histories, and workshops. His work addresses issues of social justice and representation in landscapes that have not historically afforded multiple voices or narratives. Torkelson’s approach to landscape preservation is illustrated in the recently completed Lewis Mountain Cultural Landscape Report, a collaborative effort between the National Park Service and former workers and visitors to Lewis Mountain, a historically segregated campground in Shenandoah National Park.

Torkelson holds a Master of Science in Historic Preservation degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from the University of Minnesota, summa cum laude. He is an incoming board member of the Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF), an active member of the Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation (AHLP), and he serves on several committees in the American Society of Landscape Architects Historic Preservation Professional Practice Network (ASLA HP-PPN).

He meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards under 36 CFR Part 61.

Before joining the Urban Heritage Project team in 2019, he worked in the Division of Cultural Resources at Redwood National and State Parks and guided backpacking trips in the mountains of northern New Mexico. He can be found hiking, antiquing, or printmaking in his free time.