Aesthetics, Biodiversity, Climate change, Contemporary practice, Design communication, Design research, Ecology, Economy, Energy, Geospatial analysis, Globalism, Green infrastructure, Infrastructure, Landform design/earthworks, Landscape performance, Landscape theory, Logistics, Mapping and modeling, Materiality, Natural resources, New media, New technologies, Phenology, Planning, Public policy, Public space, Regeneration, Regional design, Regionalism, Remediation and reuse, Representation/visualization, Resilience, Site design, Smart landscapes, Sustainability, Transportation, Urban design, Urban forestry, Urbanism, Wildlife

Conor O'Shea's design, research, and teaching focus on the urbanization of the hinterlands, operational landscapes, logistics landscapes, and the geography of freight transportation in North America. He directs the Landscape Strategies Laboratory at the University of Illinois and is founding principal of Hinterlands Urbanism and Landscape.