Janet Loebach is the Evalyn Edwards Milman Assistant Professor in Child Development in the Department of Human Centered Design, and the Director of the DECA Lab (Design Environments with|for Children & Adolescents).  Dr. Loebach’s academic, professional practice and advocacy efforts focus primarily on three areas: (1) the sustainable development of inclusive and child/youth-friendly environments and communities; (2) examining the impacts of children’s everyday built and natural environments on their play and learning behaviors, mobility, and healthy development; and (3) the assessment and refinement of participatory approaches and research tools for examining the environments of young people, and effectively integrating youth into community research, design and planning initiatives.  This work includes environment-behavior analyses at the community- and regional-level, as well as in individual settings such as parks, trails, schools, care facilities, community hubs, and play spaces.  Much of her recent work has focused on outdoor and/or neighborhood-based play and mobility behaviors and their impacts, and the assessment of outdoor and natural play & recreation spaces. The impacts of nature and natural environments on child behaviors and health outcomes is also a key focus. Dr. Loebach’s work often integrates child-led, arts-engaged and/or digitally-enhanced methods such as behavior mapping, qualitative GIS, GPS tracking, participatory photography and videography, child-led community tours, walkalong interviews, story maps, and place mapping. In addition to children and youth, Dr. Loebach is also interested in the design of supportive intergenerational spaces and age-friendly environments for older adults, as well as environmental settings for youth and older adults with physical and/or cognitive challenges, environmental sensitivities or neurodiversities.

Dr. Loebach received a Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering & Society from McMaster University (Canada), a Master of Environmental Design from the School of Architecture and Planning at Dalhousie University (Canada), and a PhD in Children’s, Urban and Health Geographies from the Department of Geography at Western University (Canada).  She was awarded Post-Doctoral Fellowships at both the Young Lives Research Laboratory at the University of PEI, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Institute for Mental Health Policy Research.  She is a registered Professional Engineer (Ontario) and the Principal Consultant for Thrive Design Consulting.  Dr. Loebach currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Play Association (Canada), and as the Co-Chair of the Children, Youth & Environments Network of the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA). She also sits on the Editorial Board of the journals: Children, Youth & Environments; PsyEcology; and Cities & Health. Dr. Loebach is also the lead editor on the 2020 Routledge Handbook of Designing Public Places for Young People: Processes, Practices and Policies for Youth Inclusion.