With fellow urban and regional planning graduate student Todd Ziebarth, Simmons B. Buntin founded the theme-based, international online journal Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments in 1997. Simmons remains the editor and publisher, managing the journal's twice-yearly publication.

Named after the A.R. Ammons poem "Terrain"—with its lines, "The soul is a region without definite boundaries: / it is not certain a prairie / can exhaust it / or a range enclose it:"— Terrain.org is a twice yearly online journal searching for that interface, the integration, among the built and natural environments, that might be called the soul of place.

It is not definitely about urban form, nor solely about natural landscapes. It is not precisely about human culture, nor necessarily about ecology. It is, rather, a celebration of the symbiosis between the built and natural environments where it exists, and an examination and discourse where it does not.

The literary, journalistic, and artistic works contained with Terrain.org are of the highest quality, submitted by a variety of contributors for a diverse audience, including some of the finest material previously appearing in the former journal Terra Nova: Nature & Culture, with which Terrain.org has a partnership. The works may be idealistic, technical, historical, philosophical, and more. Above all, they focus on the environments around us—the built and natural environments—that both affect and are affected by the human species.

Terrain.org strives to be both a resource and a pleasure, a compass and a shelter:

• Technical and journalistic works contained in the Articles, UnSprawl, Reviews, Interview, and Columns sections are aimed at professionals and other interested individuals and groups. These contributions can help communities develop and redevelop in a more sustainable manner.
• Literary and artistic works contained in the Poetry, Essays, Fiction, Columns, and ARTerrain sections allow the reader to relax and enjoy the pieces for what they are. All work contained within Terrain.org is accessible to all interested audiences. While a case study may help a community planner in his or her job, it may also inform a banker, inspire a student, and educate a mechanic. While a poem may give joy to a teacher, it may also provide a brief sojourn for a scientist, give cause to reflect for a developer, and give hope to a housewife (or househusband).

The works contained within Terrain.org ultimately examine the physical realm around us, and how those environments influence us and each other physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

  
View the current issue, a full collection of archives, submission guidelines, and additional information at www.terrain.org.