Nicholas Decker, PLA

Associate at Gruen Associates

Los Angeles, California, United States

About

Experienced Researcher and Designer with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Skilled in ArcGIS, Urban Planning, community outreach, Adobe Suites, and stone carving. Strong research professional with a MS focused in Landscape Architecture from Pennsylvania State University and a BLA from Utah State University.

Experience

  • Landscape Architect 2 / Associate at DLR Group
    May 2026 - Present · 2 mos

  • Assistant Lecturer at UCLA Extension
    Feb 2024 - Present · 2 yrs 5 mos

    • Instruct 1st year studio and grading/stormwater course • Develop lesson plans and assignments • Organize educational site visits

  • Gruen Associates (7 yrs 11 mos)
    • Associate
      Dec 2022 - Jun 2026 · 3 yrs 7 mos

      • Manage 20+ projects in all phases, from visioning through construction closeout • Direct a team junior & mid-level staff • Serve as main point-of-contact with clients • Develop good relationships with clients • Collaborate with engineering, architecture, and logistical consultants • Design and manage major projects • Produce and Manage 20+ construction drawing packages • Perform Construction Administration on 5+ major finished projects • Perform QC on my own and other PM’s projects • Successfully write proposals and interview in multiple project pursuits

    • Project Manager
      Jul 2021 - Dec 2022 · 1 yr 6 mos

    • Assistant Project Manager (Landscape Architecture)
      Mar 2020 - Jun 2021 · 1 yr 4 mos

  • Penn State University (2 yrs 5 mos)
    • Graduate Teaching Assistant
      Aug 2015 - Dec 2017 · 2 yrs 5 mos

      Led design studio seminars and taught in ArcGIS courses. Provided one-on-one project consultation and troubleshooting for ArcGIS, AutoCAD, Sktechup, and Adobe Suites products. Also graded and aided in course module design for introductory design course and site implementation.

    • Graduate Research Assistant
      Aug 2016 - Jan 2017 · 6 mos

      Designing and performing a research project locating cultural sites across Pennsylvania. Overseen by Tim Murtha. Determined parameters, collected data, performed GIS analysis, and created reports.

  • GIS Analyst at Utah State University RS/GIS Lab
    Jul 2015 - Aug 2015 · 2 mos

    Performed visual analysis on remote sensing data for the US Forest Service and the United Nation Food and Agriculture Organization. Also digitized deed information and created databases for the State of Utah.