Muntazar Monsur, Ph.D.

Dr. Muntazar Monsur is an Associate professor of Landscape Architecture at Texas Tech University and a prominent early-career scholar in environment-behavior research focusing on early childhood environments and design. His recent scholarly works (20 journal articles and grants totaling $2.7 million) are concentrated on advancing children’s health, well-being, happiness, and learning by creating environments that support play, interactions, curiosity, and creativity. Dr. Monsur is an engaged scholar, and his teaching, research, and outreach activities often overlap in engaging students with community partners for action research and design-built projects to improve children’s everyday experiences.

At Texas Tech, Dr. Monsur spearheads the XR Lab (Extended Reality Lab), a cutting-edge center that explores the intersection of technology and design. The lab specializes in immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR), leveraging these tools to revolutionize landscape architecture education and research. Under Dr. Monsur’s leadership, the XR Lab has become a hub for multidisciplinary collaborations, with ongoing projects aimed at advancing health, well-being, and educational outcomes through innovative XR applications. He created and taught a new graduate design studio course at Tech titled Landscape for Learning, where students work hands-on with communities to design, build, and research effective landscapes for advancing learning environments for children. Dr. Monsur published and presented these engaged works with students in Landscape for Learning in prominent journals and conferences.

Dr. Monsur has been recognized with many prestigious awards including the Davis College Outreach and Engagement Award (2025), Davis College Junior Faculty Award (2024), TTU Alumni Association’s New Faculty Award (2024), TTU President’s Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award (2020), and Gertrude Cox Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching and Learning with Technology, Office of Faculty Development, North Carolina State University (2018). His success stories are featured in prestigious national outlets like the Landscape Architecture Magazine. He is also an emerging speaker in the areas of environment-behavior relationships in early childhood design and has given invited talks at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Cardiff University, and Play Core.

Dr. Monsur also serves as one of the Associate Directors of Texas Tech’s STEM CORE – a collaborative platform to facilitate interdisciplinary activities in STEM education, outreach, and research. As the Graduate Coordinator of TTU Landscape Architecture, he revived the MLA program by recruiting high-quality graduate students in the last five years (from 1 MLA student in 2019 to 16 MLA students in 2025). As a proponent of a holistic approach to childhood development by bringing more nature into children's everyday experiences, Dr. Monsur aims to develop a comprehensive design-research agenda to create/lead a top research institution advancing multidisciplinary and collaborative research on early childhood environments and design.   

Recent Grants

USDA NIFA Capacity Building Grants titled Using Interactive Virtual Tours to Train Childcare Professionals and Future Leaders to Create Healthier Early Childhood Environments (2022-2025). Amount: $300,000. Role: PI.

PlayCore Inc. Private Grant titled PlayValuation: Creating Play Value Assessment Score Databases for Play Components. Amount: 35,000. Role: PI

USDA-NIFA Higher Education Challenge Grant titled iVisiT: Interactive Virtual Tours for Advancing Food and Agricultural Sciences (2021-2024). Amount: $750,000. Role: Co-PI.

Creating Active Outdoor Environments for Young Children of Texas – Phase 5, Texas Department of State Health Services (2021-2022). Amount: $121,000. Role: Co-PI.

USDA NIFA Capacity Building Grants titled Effectiveness of a Child Care Hands-on Gardening Component for Preventing Preschool Obesity in Different Climatic Zones and Demographic Areas (2020-23). Amount: $272,149.Role: PI. 

Creating Active Outdoor Environments for Young Children of Texas – Phase 4, Texas Department of State Health Services (2020-2021). Amount: $198,500. Role: Co-PI. 

Recent Publications

Trina, N.A., Monsur, M.* (2025). Plants and play: value of plant databases to transform plants as loose parts play materials in outdoor learning environments. Learning Environ Res(2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-025-09555-yTrina, N. A., Monsur, M.*, Cosco, N., Loon, L., Shine, S., & Mastergeorge, A. (2025). Rethinking Traditional Playgrounds: Temporary Landscape Interventions to Advance Informal Early STEAM Learning in Outdoors. Education Sciences, 15(8), 952. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15080952

Andalib, S. Y., Monsur, M.*, Cook, C., Lemon, M., Zawarus, P., & Loon, L. (2025). Enhancing Landscape Architecture Construction Learning with Extended Reality (XR): Comparing Interactive Virtual Reality (VR) with Traditional Learning Methods. Education Sciences, 15(8), 992. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15080992

Samira, R., Monsur, M.*, Trina, N.A. (2025). How the Built Environment Shapes Children’s Microbiome: A Systematic Review. Microorganisms, 13, 950. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13040950

Trina, N. A., Monsur, M., Cosco, N., Shine, S., Mastergeorge, A., & Loon, L. (2025). The Role of Landscape Elements in Outdoor Learning Environment Design to Facilitate STEAM Learning in Early Years: Learning in Early Years. Children, Youth and Environments, 35(1), 55-81.

Trina, N.A., Monsur, M., Cosco, N. et al.(2025) Tools for Assessing the STEAM Learning Affordances and Quality of Outdoor Learning Environments of Childcare Centers: A Systematic Review. Early Childhood Educ J. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-01911-0

Thomas, A., Monsur, M., Lindquist, C. S., Montague, T., & Simpson, C. R. (2024). Impacts of Landscape Types and Flower Colors on the Emotional Perceptions of Military Service Members. Land, 13(12), 2111. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13122111

Monsur, M.*, Mansur, M., Trina, N. A., & Cosco, N. (2024). Hands-On Gardening in Childcare Centers to Advance Preschool-Age Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Liking in Semi-Arid Climate Zone. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(11), 1485. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21111485

Craig, D.; Trina, N.A.; Monsur, M.*; Haque, U.T.; Farrow, G.; Hasan, M.Z.; Tasnim, F.; Akinbobola, M.S. (2024) Effective Nature-Based Outdoor Play and Learning Environments for below-3 Children: A Literature-Based Summary. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21, 1247. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21091247

Trina, N.A.; Monsur, M.*; Cosco, N.; Shine, S.; Loon, L.; Mastergeorge, A. (2024) How Do Nature-Based Outdoor Learning Environments Affect Preschoolers’ STEAM Concept Formation? A Scoping Review. Education Sciences, 14(6): 627. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14060627

Andalib, S.; Monsur, M.* (2024) Co-Created Virtual Reality (VR) Modules in Landscape Architecture Education: A Mixed Methods Study Investigating the Pedagogical Effectiveness of VR. Education Sciences, 14(6):553. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14060553

Thomas, A.; Monsur, M.; Lindquist, C.S.; Montague, T.; Simpson, C.R. (2024). Evaluation of Military Service Member Preferences of Landscape Design Elements in Therapeutic Gardens. Land, 13, 658. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13050658

Monsur, M.*; Hefner, T.; Van Allen, J.; Trina, N.A.; Andalib, S.Y.; Cosco, N. (2024). Effects of Childcare Hands-On Gardening on Preschoolers’ (3–5 Years) Physical Activity in Semi-Arid Climate Zone. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21, 548. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21050548

Wells, N. M., Cosco, N. G., Hales, D., Monsur, M., & Moore, R. C. (2023). Gardening in Childcare Centers: A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining the Effects of a Garden Intervention on Physical Activity among Children Aged 3–5 Years in North Carolina. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 5939. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20115939

Khan, M., Spinney, J., & Monsur, M. (2023). To do or not to do: practical and ethical concerns in online research with children and young people during crises. Children's Geographies, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2023.2237916