Rate My Professor Martha Bohm

Martha Bohm is an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard University in 1998 and a Master of Architecture from the University of Oregon in 2006. Bohm began her career as a policy associate at the Center for Best Practices of the National Governors’ Association, conducting research on air quality, open-space planning, nuclear waste stewardship, and transportation. She served as Ginsberg Research Fellow and authored the U.S. Green Building Council Research Committee’s National Green Building Research Agenda. Subsequently, she worked as Sustainable Design Coordinator at William McDonough + Partners on international commercial projects and as intern architect at Rowell Brokaw Architects. Bohm joined the University at Buffalo as Visiting Assistant Professor in 2010, became Assistant Professor in 2011, and advanced to Associate Professor. She previously taught as Visiting Lecturer at Cornell University’s Department of Architecture and as Graduate Teaching Fellow at the University of Oregon.

Bohm’s research explores the intersection of architectural design, energy efficiency, healthy materials, and ecological sensibility to address the global climate crisis. She led the GRoW Home project, a net-zero energy prototype that secured second place overall in the 2015 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, with first place in Energy Balance, Comfort Zone, and Commuting contests. Other projects include the Ground-level Agricultural Survey System for assessing urban food cultivation and studies on urban agriculture’s benefits for marginalized communities. Key publications encompass “Energy technology and lifestyle: A case study of the University at Buffalo 2015 Solar Decathlon Home” in Renewable Energy (2018), “Urban Agriculture In and On Buildings in North America: The Unfulfilled Potential to Benefit Marginalized Communities” in Built Environment (2017), and editing Beyond Patronage: Reconsidering Models of Practice (Actar D, 2015). Bohm teaches undergraduate core design studios and environmental systems courses and directs graduate research studios and seminars as a member of the Ecological Practices Graduate Research Group. She co-directs the Sustainable Futures study abroad program in Costa Rica. Honors include the UB President Emeritus and Mrs. Meyerson Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring (2017), AIA Western New York Chapter Design Award for GRoW Home (2016), UB Sustainability Leadership Award (2016), Food Equity Ideas Lab Scholar (2017), and Gary Day Award for teaching excellence (2015).