Emerson Goo

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Mr. Goo was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi and joined PBR HAWAII in 2023. He assists with physical planning, writing entitlements and permits, and projects which leverage his skills as an experienced writer with a design and planning background.

Mr. Goo holds a BLA in Landscape Architecture from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Courses in environmental law and policy encouraged him to deepen his knowledge of planning, and he received minors in City and Regional Planning as well as Land Rehabilitation and Restoration Ecology. In 2021, he received the Hawaiʻi Chapter ASLA/David T. Woolsey Scholarship and was a runner-up for the Daniel Zwier/Permaloc Innovation Scholarship. Being deaf, Mr. Goo is a strong advocate for disabled inclusion in built environment professions and the importance of universal design.

Outside of PBR HAWAII, Emerson is a freelance writer covering art, film, and design for a range of nationally and internationally recognized publications, including Film Comment, Cinema Scope, Design Museum Everywhere, and the New York Review of Architecture. He has worked in an independent capacity with the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival. He is a member of the Hawaiʻi Film Critics Society.

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