Caryn Brause FAIA received her M.Arch degree at the University of Virginia and her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to teaching, Caryn is the principal of SITELAB Architecture + Design. Her award-winning socially engaged design work has had broad impact in the region by addressing issues such as food insecurity, building material reuse, and youth empowerment.Through her many activities, Caryn connects the academy and the profession, and she works to translate research into practice domains. Her current research projects examine the relationship between spatial contexts and social and professional networks in the post-pandemic campus with a focus on equity, inclusion, and wellbeing. She is author of The Designer's Field Guide to Collaboration (First Prize, 2017 BTES Book Award). Her applied professional practice course, Voices from the Field: From Design Concept to Reality, was recognized with a 2016 AIA/ACSA Practice + Leadership Award and a 2013 NCARB Award for the Integration of Practice and Education. Caryn’s leadership and service to the discipline include co-founding and serving as inaugural Design Editor for the journal of Technology | Architecture + Design, service on the AIA Higher Education Advisory Team (HEAT) and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) Education and Awards Committees, as well as on the Board of Directors for the Western Mass AIA chapter. She serves as a Team Leader for Research on UMass ADVANCE Leadership Team.