A Professor of Landscape Architecture, Alissa North’s research falls primarily under two main categories—publication and creative practice. Her publications aim to bring knowledge regarding the professional discipline of landscape architecture to a broad public, with a particular emphasis on the dissemination of works of Canadian landscape architecture. Publications include, the journal article Processing Downsview Park in JoLA, Operative Landscapes: Building Communities Through Public Space published by Birkhäuser, and Innate Terrain: Canadian Landscape Architecture published by the University of Toronto Press.

Alissa North is a Co-Founding Director at North Design Office, a Toronto based landscape architecture firm established in 2005. Alongside public and private landscape architecture projects, the office has received recognition in several international design competitions. Prior to establishing North Design Office, Professor North worked at the firms of Hargreaves Associates, Urban Strategies, and with the Tree City Team on Parc Downsview Park. She is a registered landscape architect, as a Full Member of the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects, and an Associate Member of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects.

North graduated with Honours from the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Program at the University of Toronto, and received the Master in Landscape Architecture with Distinction from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, where she was awarded the Jacob Weidenman Prize for outstanding ability and talent in design.

Professor North has been a guest critic and lecturer in landscape architecture programs across North America and Europe. Her teaching is focussed on design studios, visual communication, planting design, and the history and theory of landscape architecture.