Lincoln Lewis

Change in the Chesapeake: Community Planning Decision-Making in a Dynamic Coastal Environment
Lincoln Lewis is a PhD Candidate studying how coastal communities – especially those with historic cultural assets – plan for the future amidst dynamic environmental change. He is the Climate Equity Doctoral Fellow with the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture and the Center for Community Partnerships where he works on the Coastlines and People (CoPe) project for Virginia’s Eastern Shore funded by the National Science Foundation.
Previously, Lincoln was a staff member of the World Bank’s Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience, and Land Global Practice based in Washington, DC. His time with the international organization started in the Singapore office and over a period of 10 years based in the city-state he was also a civil servant with the Ministry of National Development focusing on architectural and urban design policy, a researcher at the Future Cities Laboratory studying Central Java, Indonesia, and he practiced as an architect designing and implementing campus plans, institutional buildings, and housing projects in Southeast Asia. Lincoln obtained a Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture, Urban Transformations in Developing Territories, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH) and a professional Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kansas where he graduated with highest distinction and was awarded the Thayer Medal, the Alpha Rho Chi Medal, and was a member of Studio 804.
As a Singapore licensed architect, Lincoln is also active in the professions of landscape architecture and planning. He volunteers for the joint Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning and American Planning Association taskforce focusing on undergraduate education and also serves as the national co-lead for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) subcommittee focusing on documenting historic landscapes. His work with Andy Packwood documenting the Tangier Island Watermen Working Landscape won the 2023 Historic American Landscapes Survey Challenge hosted by the ASLA, the Library of Congress, and the National Park Service.
- Winner, Larson Award Distinguished Professional, American Planning Association Virginia Chapter, 2025.
- Winner, Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design, 2025.
- Winner, University of Virginia Sustainability Leadership Award, 2025.
- Awardee, Building Official Scholar, North American Modern Building Alliance, 2025.
- Grantee, Edna and Norman Freehling Fellowship in South Atlantic Studies, Virginia Humanities, 2025.
- Awardee, Bliss Symposium Award in Garden and Landscape Studies, Dumbarton Oaks and Harvard University, 2024.
- Awardee, Pamela H. Simpson Presenter Fellowship, Vernacular Architecture Forum, 2024.
- Awardee, Presenter Scholarship, Oral History Association, 2024.
- Finalist, Karsh Institute of Democracy Photography Contest, 2024.
- Grantee, “Change in the Riau Archipelago: Adaptation of the Orang Suku Laut and Their Built Environment,” University of Virginia’s Graduate Global Research Grant, 2024.
- Grantee, “Laser Scanning at Tangier Island to Preserve History due to Environmental Impacts,” University of Virginia’s Student Council, with W. Packwood, 2024.
- Grantee, “Oral Histories as a Method for Increased Understanding of Cultural Landscapes,” University of Virginia’s Center for Cultural Landscapes, with W. Packwood, Virginia Humanities and Virginia Tech, 2024.
- Winner, Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) Challenge, National Park Service, with W. Packwood, 2023.
- Winner, Student Planning Project of the Year, American Planning Association Virginia Chapter, with S. Rizk, R. Vemuri, and P. Werman, 2023.
- Grantee, “Documenting Tangier Island’s Watermen Working Landscape,” Environmental Futures Fellowship by the University of Virginia’s Environmental Institute, implemented with W. Packwood, 2023.
- Lewis, L. and M. Kim. 2024. “The Road of Presidents.” In Morven Explorations: Student Research from the Spring 2024 Semester. Editors A. Johnston and M. Kutney. Charlottesville, Virgina: University of Virginia. p.1–32.
- L. Lewis and W. Packwood. 2024. “Tangier Island’s Watermen Working Landscape: Documentation Methods to Inform Environmental Adaptation Approaches.” National Science Foundation site review, Coastlines and People project for the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
- L. Lewis. 2024. “Tangier Island’s Crab Houses: Methods of Documentation and Vernacular Classification in a Tidal Environment.” Vernacular Architecture Forum Annual Conference.
- L. Lewis. 2024. “Soft Shell Blue Crabs and Tangier Island’s Watermen Working Landscape.” Society of Architectural Historians, Latrobe Chapter, and Washington D.C. Preservation League Fourteenth Bi-Annual Symposium “The Architecture of Food.”
- Lewis, L., X. Wang, A. Barnwal. 2021. GEF-6 Sustainable Cities IAP Program: Emerging Lessons from the Global Partnership for Sustainable Cities. Washington, DC: Global Environment Facility Secretariat. ISBN: 978-1-948690-84-3.
- Mehrotra, S., L. Lewis, M. Orloff, and B. Olberding, editors. 2020. Greater Than Parts: A Metropolitan Opportunity. Volumes I, II, III. Washington, DC: World Bank.
- Handayani, W., R. Setiadi, B. Septiarani, and L. Lewis. 2020. Metropolitan Semarang: Clustering and Connecting Locally Championed Metropolitan Solutions. In Volume II of Greater Than Parts: A Metropolitan Opportunity, edited by S. Mehrotra, L. Lewis, M. Orloff, and B. Olberding. Washington, DC: World Bank.
- Global Platform for Sustainable Cities, World Bank. 2019. Melaka Sustainability Outlook Diagnostic: Overview Report: Pathway to Urban Sustainability. Overview Report and Supporting Reports 1-6. Washington, DC: World Bank.
