Honors & Awards

ASLA Elevates 40 Members to the Council of Fellows

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has elevated 40 members as ASLA Fellows for their exceptional contributions to the landscape architecture profession and society at large. Election to the ASLA Council of Fellows is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members and is based on their works, leadership/management, knowledge, and service.

ASLA Fellows will be elevated during a special investiture ceremony at the 2024 Conference on Landscape Architecture. Additional information about the 2024 Class of Fellows, as well as previous ASLA Fellows, is available on the ASLA Council of Fellows webpage.

2024 Fellows-Elect

 Matthew Arnn, ASLA
United States Forest Service, Washington, DC   

Claire Bedat, ASLA
US Department of State Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, Washington, DC 

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Potomac Chapter 

Claire Bedat’s worldwide design leadership and her advocacy for the profession of landscape architecture are exercising broad influence on allied professionals and on the built environment globally. As the first landscape architect to serve as the Design Manager for the US Department of State Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, Claire is shaping the profession’s role and driving eco-diplomacy development goals for US assets abroad through climate leadership and environmental conservation. With a $75 billion portfolio replacement value spanning across 25,000 assets, and 5,000 hectares of sites at 290 overseas locations, she manages multidisciplinary teams of highly experienced professionals in acquisition, planning, design, and engineering standards critical to diplomatic missions worldwide. In 2022, Claire launched a Global Arboretum: Quantifying Eco-Diplomacy through Trees initiative to characterize the value of trees as capital assets, recognizing their mitigating effects and adaptive capacity to climate change. During her previous 20 years in private practice, Clair rose quickly through the ranks to become a leader and while at AECOM, directed two Smithsonian Institution national museum projects for new universally accessible entry and public realms. She served as the president of the Potomac Chapter of ASLA and worked to protect the landscape architecture licensure rights in Virginia. Claire’s remarkable decades-long career has been marked by engagement, advocacy, cultural sensitivity, global perspective, and leadership. Her unique qualities as a designer, communicator, and collaborator directly influence how allied professions and decision-makers understand what excellence in design and planning is.  

Catherine Berris, ASLA
Partner Emeritus, Urban Systems, Vancouver, BC

Nomination in Leadership/Management by ASLA Council of Fellows

In a career spanning more than four decades, Catherine Berris has been at the forefront of her disciplines, building relationships, and innovating how to integrate GIS applications into environmental assessment and coastal zone planning work. Her project experience spans community and site planning; park, recreation, and trail planning and design; nature-based design solutions; urban forest strategies; coastal planning; visual assessment; and cemetery planning and design. Through this unique blend of practice areas, she helps her clients, who are mostly local governments and Indigenous communities, improve the health of their environments and their people. As an early adopter of community engagement, she continues to implement new tools and approaches for connecting with the public and stakeholders. Protecting and providing experiences of nature in the city are key passions for Catherine; her nature-based approaches to stormwater management as a response to flooding caused by urban development were cutting edge. She is a consummate professional, guiding her own firm for decades and now leading at the multidisciplinary Urban Systems firm. Catherine is president-elect of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects where her major initiative to date is serving as the board champion for the Committee on Climate Action. Throughout her long career in practice, academia, and volunteer activities, she has been highly regarded for her unwavering commitment to ethical principles, social responsibility, and exemplary built environments. 

Anita Berrizbeitia, ASLA
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Nomination in Knowledge by the Boston Chapter

For almost three decades, Anita Berrizbeitia has been a long-time leader in academia and the profession through her copious and rigorous research, graduate-level teaching, extensive publishing, and persistent advocacy for landscape architecture. Her childhood in Caracas, Venezuela, informed her approach to offering cross-cultural and interdisciplinary frameworks to understanding landscape architecture. Much of her research explores nineteenth- and twentieth-century public realm landscapes, with interests in material culture, urban political ecology, and the productive functions of landscapes in processes of urbanization and climate adaptation from two contexts: North American/European and Latin American. A prolific scholar, Anita’s many books, chapters, and essays are standard texts within landscape architecture and architecture curricula. Her research and publications have earned her wide recognition and awards nationally and internationally, including the Prince Charitable Trusts Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome in 2006. As chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, she worked to broaden the curriculum to better reflect current environmental and societal challenges, including the addition of a required course in climate change (“Climate by Design”), and to diversify the faculty and student body. Through her bold intellectual leadership, Anita innovated a range of new design studios that produced novel synergies across multiple design disciplines and were in high demand. Her creativity, compassion, and commitment as a scholar and landscape visionary have left an indelible mark on the academy and the profession.   

Molly Bourne, ASLA
MNLA, New York City 

Nomination in Works by the New York Chapter

Known for her thoughtful integration of community and ecology, Molly Bourne excels in crafting harmonious spaces that blend beauty, functionality, and environmental sensitivity while advancing the practice of landscape architecture. In 32 years of practice, she has championed the design of vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable public open spaces that enrich communities and nurture human connections, as well as integrate resiliency and climate adaptation. As principal at MNLA, Molly’s visionary approach to design demonstrates her deep technical expertise and ability to understand complex projects and work with clients, public agencies, and partner disciplines. She has successfully intertwined infrastructure, landscape, and urban fabric within complex projects, such as the Waterline Square brownfield transformation. Previously unused space, this award-winning 2.8-acre park showcases a robust design narrative reflective of the historic water flows that once existed in Manhattan. Her dedication to the South Bronx Greenway Master Plan has led to the nationally recognized Hunts Point Landing and Randall’s Island Connector, and her vision balanced community amenities, new bicycle routes, improved lighting, and enhanced quality of life. Molly’s contributions to the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project radically reimagined the interaction between humans and nature by weaving flood protection through, above, and below open space. The flood protection ties into the New York City grid, and offers separation from adjacent highways, tucks under and supports recreation courts and ballfields, and fortifies esplanades. Molly is also committed to teaching aspiring landscape architects and integrating landscape architecture into mentorship programs. 

Jules Bruck, ASLA
University of Florida, Gainesville 

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Florida Chapter 

A distinguished landscape architect, educator, and leader, Jules Bruck has had a long career initiating and guiding the development of innovative programs, enhancing the profession’s recognition globally through her influential leadership. Her research, focused on multidisciplinary, innovative approaches to addressing climate impacts in vulnerable communities, has secured millions of dollars for coastal community research and improvements. During her 16 years at the University of Delaware, her accomplishments were many. There she initiated the establishment of their first fully accredited landscape architecture program, where she served as founding director. She cofounded the innovative and nationally acclaimed interdisciplinary Coastal Resilience Design Studio to address the needs of vulnerable communities in Delaware, garnering national and local awards from ASLA, APA, and the Coastal Estuarine Research Federation and assisted in securing over ten million dollars in local community improvements. Jules spearheaded the Living Lab multidisciplinary research program to aid underserved Delaware communities in planning, implementing, and evaluating active transportation projects. In 2014, she cofounded the ASLA Education and Practice Professional Practice Network to serve the needs of academics engaged in professional practice. Jules also leads research projects funded by the US Department of Defense and Army Corps of Engineers Engineering with Nature Program. Now leading the landscape architecture program at the University of Florida, she continues to make her mark with her personal leadership style, administrative ability, and commitment to community engagement as she plans for expanded programs and new future directions.   

Karen Cesare, ASLA
Novak Environmental, Tucson  

Nomination in Service by the Arizona Chapter  

Karen Cesare has devoted her career to service, elevating the profession most notably in the areas of water conservation, sustainability, civic engagement, and the recognition of landscape architecture as a STEM discipline. She is an elected member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, which serves three counties and 80% of the state population, where she helps set policy around the critical issue of water in the west. An early adopter and promoter of a water conservation ethic, as a volunteer, she designed and helped build the first Xeriscape Demonstration Garden in Tucson in the late 1980s. Her interest in water issues led to her appointment to Tucson’s Citizen’s Water Advisory Committee, which she chaired for several years. Karen has been heavily involved with career discovery activities, volunteering for over ten years for Arizona Science Olympiad, which helped lead to landscape architecture being recognized as a STEM discipline regionally, aligning with ASLA’s position. In 2007 then Governor Napolitano appointed Karen to the multidisciplinary State Board of Technical Registration, where she served for three years (two as chair) and represented Arizona on CLARB. During Karen’s term as chapter president, she led the successful fight to save licensure in Arizona. Her many contributions garnered Karen “Landscape Architect of the Year” in 2018 by the Arizona Chapter. She was also recognized with a Women of Influence “Lifetime Achievement” award in 2019 by Tucson Local Media.  

Lisa Cowan, ASLA
StudioVerde, Cumberland, ME  

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Boston Chapter   

Ecological accountability is now seen as conventional in landscape architecture in part because of Lisa Cowan’s pioneering work over the last 40 years. One of the first landscape architects in the nation to work primarily alongside ecological scientists, Lisa spearheaded an innovative integrated team approach to ecological and wetland restoration in the early 1990s that changed the US Army Corps of Engineers’ standards and led to the adoption of methodologies that transformed the design, construction and long-term performance monitoring of wetland and upland habitat establishment and restoration. As an early adopter and expert in Sustainable SITES certification, she continued to lead an emerging market through outreach, education, and leadership across a spectrum of professional organizations and providing the impetus for municipal and regional SITES policy adoptions. Design teams from the Atlanta BeltLine to the General Services Administration to the Maine Department of Transportation have relied on Lisa’s unparalleled expertise to guide projects toward environmental goals. Other national professional organizations, such as the Ecological Landscape Alliance and the National Association of Wetland Managers, have tapped Lisa’s ability to find synergies and opportunities to improve ecological outcomes. Since the early 1990s, Lisa has been writing articles and white papers, leading workshops and speaking at conferences—locally, regionally, nationally—demonstrating her commitment to sharing her knowledge. And while thinking globally she’s acted locally, serving as the Maine Section co-chair of the ASLA Boston Chapter for five years. 

Lynn M. Crump, ASLA
Scenic Virginia, Richmond, VA

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Virginia Chapter  

For over 40 years, Lynn Crump has balanced the complex relationships between natural resources and development pressure by bringing a uniquely broad and deep perspective to collaborative processes and to leading multidisciplinary teams. A visionary thinker, Lynn is one of the most highly respected experts in the analysis and management of scenic landscapes. Under her guidance, she made the Virginia Scenic Rivers program one of the strongest in the county, expanding by 42%, with over 600 miles of rivers designated. Sharing knowledge has always been important to her, as can be seen in her work at Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech. At the VCU Center for Environmental Studies, she developed a successful model for students to participate in real-world opportunities to incorporate scenic river policy with advancing the state’s work and mission. As three-term president of the Virginia Chapter of the ASLA, she turned around a precarious financial situation and raised participation after years of decline. When at the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Lynn helped revitalize the antiquated state park master planning process while working on 24 park plans—about 50% of the entire system, instigating extensive new site plan protocols, including viewshed mapping. An accomplished presenter at national symposiums and a prolific research and writer, Lynn has had a significant impact on how we analyze and manage scenic resources, master plan our state parks, and understand recreation tendencies to inform planning and management strategies.   

Chris Della Vedova, ASLA
Confluence, Des Moines, IA

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Iowa Chapter  

Chris Della Vedova’s unparalleled and innovative leadership and management abilities have advanced landscape architecture in the Midwest, in his firm, in the universities, and in the communities he serves. As CEO and cofounder of Confluence, he guided the firm’s expansion across eight states while significantly elevating the practice of landscape architecture in the region, driven by design principles to create authentic spaces that are welcoming for all constituents, foster social interaction, and are sustainable. He has been pivotal in shaping policy in his multiple influential roles, ranging from vice president of finance for ASLA to cofounder of the Central States ASLA initiative to president of Iowa ASLA, where he was a driving force behind the transition from a basic landscape architect registration requirement to a comprehensive practice act. He strives to always increase public awareness and especially civic leaders about the important role of the profession through his involvement in initiatives like Operation Downtown and the Iowa Architectural Foundation’s Community Design Program. Chris’s dedication to mentorship has set a high standard for nurturing the profession’s current and future talent. He founded the Confluence Landscape Architecture Studio Prize at Iowa State University, which encourages student enrollment and promotes excellence among the students. Additionally, his participation on the Landscape Architecture Professional Advisory Council at Iowa State University uses his management skills to help improve student education and align academic programs with industry requirements. 

Scott Victor Emmelkamp, ASLA
Planning Design Studio, St. Louis

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the St. Louis Chapter  

Scott Emmelkamp is a passionate leader whose dedication to landscape architecture has manifested itself in community involvement, service to ASLA, enrichment of landscape architecture education, and a stellar professional career. In his community of Manchester, MO, Scott was the first and only landscape architect to serve on the city planning and zoning commission, where he aided in creating a comprehensive plan for the city that successfully guided much-needed growth of commercial development and tax revenue. For over 15 years, Scott has volunteered for the nonprofit Open Space STL, starting with cleanups along the Meramec River and leading to joining the board of directors, chairing committees, serving on the executive committee, and eventually becoming president. His acumen helped secure a significant amount of funding that was used to conserve over 250 acres of environmentally significant land in the St. Louis region. His generous involvement with ASLA—two-time chapter president, two terms as trustee, four board chairmanships, and ten national ASLA committees—is just one way he gives back to the profession. That dedication is also reflected in his advisory roles for the landscape architecture programs at the University of Arkansas (his alma mater) and Washington University, where his guidance resulted in both programs being elevated in the community and the profession. Professionally, his reputation resulted in winning and leading the largest planning project his firm has been awarded—a comprehensive St. Louis County parks system master plan spanning 12,400 acres and 74 parks. 

Grace E. Fielder, ASLA
G. E. Fielder & Associates, Laurel, MD

Nomination in Service by the Maryland Chapter 

For over 50 years, Grace Fielder has worked to advance the practice, visibility, and power of landscape architecture through government advocacy, educational advancement, and community engagement. Raised on a dairy farm in rural Maryland, she developed a deep understanding of stewardship of the land and of caring for her community. Grace wrote “commitment to service” into her job description from the very start of her career, and her meritorious career and outstanding service to the profession are testament to that resolve. Her roles in government advocacy include serving as the vice chair of the Prince George’s County Development Quality Task Force, where she produced the “Landscape Manual.” She developed the Montgomery County, Maryland, Recreational Guidelines. At the University of Maryland she was instrumental in establishing the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree, while she served on the College of Agriculture Dean’s Advisory Board. Two Maryland governors appointed her to the Maryland State Board of Examiners for three consecutive three-year terms. Grace became the 15th woman to become a licensed landscape architect in Maryland and took it upon herself to recruit women across the land development industry from every age, race, creed, and color to hear their insights, shared experiences, and future needs. That effort grew into Women In Land Development (W.I.L.D.) which provided educational and networking opportunities to help women advance in their professions. Grace consistently engages professionals, students, and the public to help them address issues of equity, the environment, and well-being.  

David Fletcher, ASLA
Fletcher Studio, San Francisco  

Nomination in Works by the Northern California Chapter  

David Fletcher, founding principal of Fletcher Studio, has been pushing the boundaries of the profession through innovation and imagination, helping communities find meaning in their built landscapes. His multidimensional background in sculpture, public art, and video gaming, along with his studies in field biology and landscape architecture, provides a unique foundation for the design of conceptual and process-based landscape solutions. His contributions to the design field include decades of teaching, academic research, writing, and giving in special ways, such as Fletcher Studio’s “Hope + Space” program which dedicates 4% of the year’s income to help communities and neighbors realize a land use dream. David redesigned San Francisco’s oldest park, South Park, to build on its Civil War-era history while solving the site’s infrastructure issues and improving accessibility. Using a single, meandering pathway to link public plazas, informal stages, bioretention gardens, gently sloping meadows, custom amenities, and custom play structures with the surrounding neighborhood, the award-winning design ties together disparate functions and offers a diversity of uses. For the city of Healdsburg, Fletcher Studio developed the master plan for parks, open spaces, and natural resources with an emphasis on alternative transportation analysis, connectivity analysis, river access, and the design of two large parks. Fletcher studio was charged with leading the design of America’s first spreading forest cemetery at Better Place Forests in Point Arena, CA. They worked with a team of forest ecologists, artists, designers, and other consultants to master-plan the property and design structures, spaces, trail systems, wayfinding and signage, the burial marker, and habitat restoration.  

Pamela Galera, ASLA
City of Riverside, CA  

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Southern California Chapter  

Pamela Galera has devoted her career to bringing nature to underserved communities. She has successfully led the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of urban parks, nature trails, and community resource centers in disadvantaged communities by advocating for nature-based solutions and forging partnerships among agencies, residents, and tribal councils. Through her leadership and advocacy, she transformed the Santiago Creek corridor in the City of Orange by creating an eight-mile trail and bike path, leading a creek restoration project, and completing several new and renovated parks. Pamela serves as president of the Santiago Creek Greenway Alliance. In Anaheim, she led the creation of the 26-acre Anaheim Coves nature park, providing 2.5 miles of accessible trails, fitness zones, native riparian habitat, and a nature play area for nearby disadvantaged communities. She then focused on reconnecting the community of Riverside to the Santa Ana River and advocated for the OC River Walk, which will create a vibrant environmentally sustainable public realm and reshape Orange County. As Director of Parks, Recreation, and Community Services, Pamela leads a team of 300 and directs the stewardship of 3,000 acres of park and open space, and 14 community centers. Pamela is always pursuing meaningful opportunities for emerging professionals. As chapter president, she started a mentoring program, with partnerships with four university programs, partnering two dozen students with established landscape architects annually. That successful program led her to launch a networking group for female managers to mentor emerging women professionals.   

Cory Gallo, ASLA
Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS  

Nomination in Knowledge by the Boston Chapter  

Cory Gallo is an innovative practitioner, scholar, and administrator who is a national leader in “learning through building.” With numerous awards, influential publications, and student-built demonstration sites across Mississippi, Cory’s “show don’t tell” form of teaching and learning extends his impact beyond the classroom and provides tangible benefits to his students, colleagues, and communities. Building on the tradition of design/build studios in landscape architecture programs, Cory created a unique stand-alone course—the only one of its kind in the United States—where each student, using sustainable materials and methods, has ownership and responsibility for a portion of the in-situ projects. It has garnered much attention and many awards, including five from ASLA, three from ACSA, two from EPA, and over 20 regional design awards. The Smithsonian at the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum added the documentation of a studio project to its permanent collection. Cory has also received prestigious teaching awards from MSU and CELA. His effective leadership led to him being the first landscape architect to serve as an upper administrator at MSU, where he is part of a diverse administrative team responsible for nine academic units, four off-campus research and extension centers, 12 research stations/units located throughout the state, and over 3,000 graduate and undergraduate students. He continues to advocate for sustainable agriculture, healthy communities, and a robust landscape architecture program.   

Aan Garrett-Coleman, ASLA
Coleman & Associates, Austin  

Nomination in Service by the Texas Chapter  

For 43 years Aan Garrett-Coleman has demonstrated her belief that the most effective way to educate the public and allied professionals about the power of landscape architecture is to give back to your community in meaningful problem-solving ways. Since starting her firm in 1987 in her hometown of Austin, Aan has participated as a stakeholder in environmental and growth initiatives, often meeting with city officials and staff to explain the impact policies would have on the preservation of natural resources and Austin’s future as a community committed to environmental stewardship. Her advocacy has contributed to the creation of codes and ordinances that protect natural resources through stormwater management, biofiltration, tree preservation, and acquisition and conservation of undeveloped land for the protection of flora, fauna, and critical watersheds. She also provided pro bono services to work with the city to create guidelines for walkable developments, which led to a new development code. Aan was a founding board member and chair of the Real Estate Council of Austin as a vehicle for reinforcing the role of landscape architects in creating sustainable communities and protecting environmental systems. One of Aan’s crowning achievements has been her ongoing pro bono services that led to the radical transformation of six acres of urban parkland into the award-winning UMLAUF Sculpture Garden, creating a seamless dialogue between art and nature. Aan has been recognized by the Texas Chapter with the Distinguished Member Award and the Community Service Award commending her significant volunteerism.   

Adriann Geuze, ASLA
West 8, Rotterdam 

Nomination in Works by the ASLA Council of Fellows  

The breadth and diversity of Adriaan Geuze’s award-winning work spans nearly four decades and many cultures (over 60 countries) and has been transformative for urban communities worldwide. He has helped shift the idea of infrastructure from simplistic support for mechanical function and logistics to being a medium for people to live a richer, higher quality of life within the public domain. He was recently awarded the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award by the International Federation of Landscape Architects for his lifetime achievements and meaningful impact. Under his direction, West 8’s projects and masterplans are recognized for their commitment to pragmatism, reaching the widest possible audience by maximizing spatial, budgetary, and material constraints. At Governor’s Island in New York City, they turned a former island military base into an award-winning 172-acre public park. Its radical masterplan includes the creation of four hills that lift the landscape 70 feet above sea level and offer visitors a range of experiences with the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty. The award-winning Houston Botanic Garden project included designing the first phase of the garden and creating a phased experimental and resilient master plan. The former golf course site required a design that balanced elevating the new gardens and permanent structures out of the 100-year floodplain and managing, protecting, and enhancing the experience of the bayou. At SoundScape Park in the heart of Miami Beach he transformed an existing parking lot into a three-acre urban green oasis that knits together core cultural institutions and supports a host of programmatic demands and a diverse audience.   

Kim Hartley Hawkins, ASLA
Hawkins Partners, Nashville  

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Tennessee Chapter 

Kim Hawkins has helped redefine the role of landscape architecture with her design acumen, her visionary approach, and her exceptional leadership and management skills. Her influence extends far beyond the confines of the successful firm she cofounded into the very fabric of the cities where she works. Over a 40-year career, Kim has established herself as a trusted leader in the Nashville area and beyond. She has been a major voice in the Nashville design scene, helping municipal and business leaders better understand what landscape architects are capable of. As the founding director of the Nashville Civic Design Center, a nonprofit advocating thoughtful civic design and meaningful community change, Kim established herself and landscape architecture as a significant voice in urban design and education. She and the team at HPI played a pivotal role in saving Nashville’s historic John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge from demolition and transforming it into cherished public realm and an integral part of the city’s greenway network. Well-respected by her staff, other landscape architects, allied professionals, and many municipal and business leaders, Kim has acted as an informal adviser to seven Nashville mayoral administrations since 1991, significantly shaping city policies and projects. Kim’s active involvement with the Urban Land Institute led to her cochairing a major ULI meeting in Nashville and showcasing the city to a global audience of real estate professionals. Her deep-seated commitment to community betterment has fostered a dynamic and empathetic workplace culture.   

Joseph Imamura, ASLA
Architect of the Capitol, Washington, DC  

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Potomac Chapter  

Joe Imamura is a skilled practitioner, a mentor, an educator, a volunteer, and a leader, spanning multiple levels of government—city, state, federal, and tribal nation—and disciplines. A registered landscape architect, as well as an architect, certified planner, and trained engineer, he holds the unique honor of being the only landscape architect and the first minority to serve as the Special Delegate of the Architect of the Capitol. During his16 plus years in the federal government, he has quickly earned a series of promotions that led to his leadership role at the Architect of the Capitol, and before then, the General Services Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs where he worked with Native American tribes and state officials to design and build cemeteries for disadvantaged and underserved veterans in rural areas of the country. Joe’s current role designates him as a commissioner for the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission established by Congress, an agency representative to help guide policy on the U.S. Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and a zoning commissioner on the Board of Zoning Adjustment for the District of Columbia. Joe is an award-winning educator, having spent more than a decade as an instructor and researcher at two universities. He also volunteers his time and leadership as a county commissioner on the Fairfax (VA) County Board of Supervisors. Joe’s leadership and broad influence demonstrate a lifelong campaign to build public trust and increase recognition for the critical role landscape architects play in shaping federal policies, programs, and key project decisions at the highest level of government.   

Jerany L. Jackson, ASLA
Great River Engineering, Springfield, MO   

Nomination in Service by the St. Louis Chapter  

For more than three decades, Jerany Jackson has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to landscape architecture by giving generously for the benefit of the profession and the public. In both her words and actions, Jerany demonstrates landscape architects’ importance as design professionals and problem solvers. As a practitioner, she has worked in multidisciplinary architecture and engineering firms collaborating daily with allied professionals. Jerany was a Governor-appointed member to the Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors and Professional Landscape Architects, where for ten years she actively fostered an environment of excellence and professionalism within the landscape architecture division and the greater 15-member board and helped shape the regulatory framework and ethical standards that guide Missouri practitioners. Jerany has served and continues to serve CLARB for 20-plus years in many leadership positions including as president. She also worked to transition the Landscape Architect Registration Exam to be fully computerized, to initiate a partnership with ASLA to defend threats against the deregulation of licenses practice, and to move the organization’s bylaws from constituency-based to competency-based leadership selection. Jerany continues to teach design as an adjunct professor at both the university and community college level. Volunteering with many community organizations, she has contributed thousands of hours of pro bono work, always remaining flexible, resilient, and true to herself as a landscape architect, allowing her to practice her craft in a genuine and authentic way.  

Joni L. Janecki, ASLA
Joni L. Janecki & Associates, Santa Cruz, CA  

Nomination in Works by the Northern California Chapter  

Joni Janecki’s four decades of nationally recognized work demonstrate her commitment to integrating cultural, historical, and ecological strands into meaningful, timeless designs that connect people and nature. Whether in urban mixed-use developments in San Jose, habitat restoration projects in rural Watsonville, or residences in the wildland/urban interface, Joni continues to support a cascade of connected species from microbes to mountain lions. Over the course of her career, her intention has been to develop timeless landscapes that are evocative, ecological, and inspiring, spaces that strengthen connections between people and landscapes. Joni has many long-term relationships with clients and professionals, most notably the University of California, Santa Cruz, for whom she has completed more than 70 projects over the last 30 years. From award-winning projects such as Engineering 2 Building to seismic and infrastructure improvements, she has created settings of quiet beauty on the 2,000-acre campus of complex geology and distinct ecosystems. At the David & Lucile Packard Foundation Headquarters in Los Altos, CA, Joni’s landscape design of the 1.5-acre site celebrates the richness and beauty of the nearby plant communities: riparian, grassland/meadow, and woodland, achieving a 95% native landscape. At the iconic Sea Ranch development in California, Joni’s design intent for an award-winning family retreat was to blend the built landscape seamlessly into its habitats and plant communities. Completed in two phases, the project occupies adjacent parcels, the first primarily meadow and the second skirting a rich riparian zone filled with head-high coastal native feather grass.   

Paul Kelsch, ASLA
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 

Nomination in Knowledge by the Potomac Chapter  

Paul Kelsch’s research focuses on the cultural construction of nature and how it is expressed in designed landscape, particularly the interrelationships between ecological understandings of nature and discourses of nature. His study includes such topics as the psychological benefit of experiencing nearby nature and the symbolism of iconic natural scenery. Grounded in landscape history, art, experience, and social theory, much of his work concentrates on historical studies of the parkways of the national capital region and the cultivation of nature and nation along the banks of the Potomac River. Paul honors previous generations of landscape architects through the care and thoroughness of his documentation and the respect he brings to their subtle artistry, framing their work within broader geographic contexts. He uses Washington as a case study for how every city can be read for its local situation and its role within the collective narrative of the American landscape. Paul has won numerous awards that testify to the quality and impact of his work, including ASLA chapter awards in historic preservation and national competitions of the Historic American Landscape Survey. He holds professional degrees in landscape architecture and architecture as well as a PhD in cultural geography, which inform his distinctive writing and thought processes. As the Robert L. Turner Chair in Urban Design, Paul approaches learning as a means of inquiry and discovery and engages his students in shared exploration of these issues of nature.   

Cody Klein, ASLA
OJB Landscape Architecture, Boston  

Nomination in Works by the Boston Chapter  

Cody Klein’s design work at OJB is changing how we look at corporate workplace health and wellness, offering naturalistic, beautiful ways to solve environmental challenges with green infrastructure. Partnering with well-known companies, Cody creates visible models of how landscape architecture advances climate resilience, blurring boundaries between the public and private realms. With his passion, relentless optimism, limitless creativity, and commitment to a highly collaborative process, Cody is addressing the challenge that many companies face: corporate landscape as an adjunct to wellness and employee health and retention. For the Ford Motor Company World Headquarters in Dearborn, MI, Cody turned a challenging site into a regenerative meadow ecosystem and solved a flood issue with a green infrastructure solution of two detention ponds. He also developed a reforestation plan with botanical stands of native trees and a layered naturalistic planting palette that balances pollinators, wildlife, and public use. At American Airlines, Cody replanned the 258-acre Texas landscape as a restorative seasonally appropriate and regionally accurate series of outdoor spaces which include 81 acres of amenity space with work enabled courtyards, active recreation areas, woodland trail systems, and regional multi-use connection paths. In Oklahoma City, Cody’s work restitched the urban fabric together with a streetscape redesign and the redesign of public spaces around Devon Energy Headquarters and downtown Myriad Botanical Gardens. The generously shaded and safe streets are shared by pedestrians, cyclists, and cars and a connected network of parks and open spaces.   

J. Rebecca Leonard, ASLA
Lionheart Places, Austin  

Nomination in Works by the Texas Chapter  

Rebecca Leonard’s work is distinguished by her focus on large-scale projects that seamlessly blend planning, urban design, and landscape architecture. Her extraordinary ability to collaborate with allied professionals and take a project from initial vision to implementation has elevated landscape architecture to a leading role in complex projects, and resulted in more than 60 national, state, regional, and local awards. Rebecca’s professional excellence, integrity, and dedication to promoting ecological, social, and cultural awareness through landscape architecture is a hallmark of her work and her firm, Lionheart Places. Her impact in Houston cannot be understated. For example, over the past 15 years she has led Midtown’s two updates to the strategic plan; two updates to the Parks and Public Spaces Master Plan and the development of Midtown Park, a world-class award-winning park on a previously vacant superblock; and the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center’s Master Plan, which resulted in the transformation of a 155-acre arboretum and introduced and restored ecosystems, created pedagogical landscapes, and established climate change resiliency. In Austin, she has been leading the vision, master plan, entitlements, and phasing of the $1 billion Brodie Oaks Retail Center Redevelopment, transforming a 38-acre, 1980s-era retail center into a transit-oriented, mixed-use area with a third of the site dedicated to open space. Her portfolio also includes the Lafitte Greenway Master Plan and Corridor Revitalization Plan which changed an abandoned industrial landscape and brownfield devastated by Hurricane Katrina into a beloved public space through integrating green infrastructure, public art, and strong public engagement.  

Bradley McCauley, ASLA
site design group, Chicago  

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Illinois Chapter 

Brad McCauley’s visionary leadership and desire to advance the profession is an inherent aspect of everything he gets involved with: practice, education, the community, and ASLA. He has left an indelible mark at his career-long firm, site design group, where he has managed over $2 billion worth of capital investments, increased revenue by 13 times, and expanded the team by five times. His legacy is not just one of professional accomplishment but is also a testament to the transformative power of visionary leadership, empathy, and a passionate commitment to creating a better world through landscape architecture. At the state level, Brad’s impact cannot be understated. He served as the president of the Illinois Chapter during the ASLA Annual Meeting in Chicago and later as Chapter trustee. But his crowning achievement was his five-year effort to protect licensure for the profession in Illinois and regain the Title Act. Even amidst the challenges of the pandemic, Brad’s dedication persisted as he assumed the role of vice president of membership for ASLA at the national level, where he spearheaded vital initiatives, such as onboarding the new CEO, collaborating on strategic plans, and facilitating the Climate Action Plan. With a long history of volunteerism, Brad extends his leadership beyond his firm’s boundaries, including participating in The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s Stewardship Council, the University of Illinois’s Department of Landscape Architecture Resource Committee, and various local and regional consortiums, juries, panels, and publications.  

Charles Grant Meacci, ASLA
Bolton & Menk, Charlotte, NC  

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the North Carolina Chapter 

With over twenty years of design and planning experience, Grant Meacci has led a wide variety of transformative projects in both the public and private sectors, working at the intersection of planning, urban design, and landscape architecture, seeking to create vibrant places and foster stronger, more equitable communities. He has influenced a generation of students, educated thousands of residents, elevated the discourse with the land development industry, and created influential design policy that has become a model for urban form and design for cities of all sizes. His unwavering passion to ensure that small towns and underserved communities are informed and empowered to shape their communities led him to create a nonprofit foundation to provide pro bono urban design and landscape architecture services. As a founder and its first executive director, Grant led the Design Workshop Foundation through its formation and pivotal first years of service. He subsequently formed a second nonprofit, Community Development Studio, to provide pro bono services to a wider geography, assisting with cultural sustainability efforts, community park projects, and other projects throughout the east coast. Grant then served as executive director of the Raleigh Urban Design Center, a municipal planning and urban design public practice housed within city government, where he created public dialogue around the rapid growth in the city. Currently working in the private sector, Grant has meaningfully advanced the art, stewardship, science, and social responsibility of landscape architecture.  

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Cleve Larry Mizell, ASLA
Lebanon, TN    

Nomination in Service by the Tennessee Chapter  

Over 60 years ago, as a young graduate Larry Mizell started on his path of doing service work to raise the profile and understanding of what landscape architects are capable of. A member of ASLA since 1963 and one of the first licensed landscape architects in Mississippi, he fought licensure battles in Mississippi, shaped regulations that preserved and improved upon the built and natural landscapes of Baton Rouge, LA, and informed Tennessee state stormwater regulations. Within ASLA, Larry has been part of more activities than can be counted: He chaired the Tennessee chapter and brought it back to financial solvency. He worked diligently to bring the ASLA national meeting to Nashville. He chaired the ASLA Membership Committee when it started producing a bi-monthly newsletter with ideas for ways to enlist new members. Currently he is a member of the ASLA Audit Committee. Larry’s professional work moved between the public and private sectors. In 2007, he started working for the City of Franklin as a land planner in the Sustainability and Planning Department. Among other things, he rewrote the local zoning ordinance to include a landscape section, something unique to city ordinances at the time. Since its adoption, other Tennessee cities have used it as a model. Larry received the Olmsted Award from the Tennessee Chapter in recognition of his significant contributions to the profession. Larry retired from Volkert, a multidisciplinary firm in Franklin in 2023, but continues his unflagging efforts for the profession.  

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Michael D. Murphy, ASLA
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX  

Nomination in Knowledge by the Texas Chapter  

A pioneer of the STEM movement and evidenced-based design in landscape architecture, Michael D. Murphy has shared his innovative thinking with thousands of practitioners and educators nationally and internationally through his academic leadership, curricula and design process development, research, publications, and presentations. In a remarkable career spanning half a century, he led the development of an evidence-based design process, focusing on the social and ecological conditions of the site as the foundation of landscape architecture education and practice, moving the field from object-focused (architectural) design thinking to process-focused (landscape systems) design. He engaged students in public service projects to demonstrate the value of a systems design approach in the classroom and established the Partnership for Community Outreach for the delivery of public service projects and to document their influence on communities. In the mid-eighties, at the University of Pretoria, he formed the Department of Landscape Architecture, where he established a locally relevant, comprehensive curriculum and taught courses over four years. Upon his return to TAMU, he conducted a study to inform the further development of the department’s STEM-based curriculum and his 2016 book, Landscape Architecture Theory: An Ecological Approach, quickly became one of the few works on landscape architecture theory that was recommended reading for every student. As a well-deserved recipient of the Texas ASLA Distinguished Member Award, he has changed education to include establishing objective, measurable metrics, and evaluation of benefits to guide design creation.   

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Faith Okuma, ASLA
Surroundings Studio, Sante Fe  

Nomination in Works by the New Mexico Chapter  

Faith Okuma has long been a fierce champion of sustainability and resource conservation in landscape architecture in New Mexico and the Southwest. Over decades, her exemplary projects have garnered local, regional, and national awards, showcasing her commitment to integrating water harvesting as a seamless part of her designs, promoting native/drought tolerant plant palettes, and designing community planning projects with a sensitivity to the land. As an advocate, she has advanced these landscape architectural values by teaching and mentoring. Her creative work and passion range from the design of new communities to applying indigenous high desert plant materials to inspiring gardens and public landscapes that reflect the culture of New Mexico and its native landscape. At the historic Polmood Farm, Faith’s analysis of natural and historic on-site surface water patterns, opportunities for water harvesting, and the plant species that were most endemic or naturalized on the site led to a unique seamlessly integrated water harvesting system. Faith led the master planning and redevelopment of the historic 50-acre Santa Fe Railyards. With heavy community engagement, the plan produced the first mixed-use zoning in the city, identified lease parcels, created a new city historic district, and established preservation goals for approximately 30 historic structures on site. Starting in 1985 and continuing over 35 years, Faith began working with the Los Alamos National Laboratory to manage its 38-square-mile site. She helped craft their first landscape and erosion control engineering standards and created institutional development plans for most of the 23 technical areas to reduce impacts and protect undeveloped lands.   

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Patsy Eubanks Owens, ASLA
University of California, Davis  

Nomination in Knowledge by the Sierra Chapter 

For over 30 years Patsy Eubanks Owens has led groundbreaking research in community participation and adolescent inclusion in the design of and access to built environments. Working with underprivileged groups from Philadelphia to Appalachian communities to vulnerable California communities, Patsy was the first landscape architect to propose and provide evidence that landscapes play an important role in the social and emotional lives of adolescents, editing the first book on this topic, The Routledge Handbook of Designing Public Places for Young People. A dedicated educator, generous colleague, and influential advocate, Patsy's critical knowledge and insights reach global audiences of researchers, planners, designers, and policy makers through her teaching, writing, projects, and presentations. Her important 2023 book, Outdoor Environments for People, was the first textbook to present a comprehensive look at social and psychological factors related to outdoor environments for all populations. While teaching at Virginia Tech in the late eighties, she created the Community Design Assistance Center to provide design services to communities and valuable professional experience to students. There she pioneered an engaged scholarship model of design pedagogy that seamlessly interweaves outreach, learning, and inquiry, resulting in CELA’s Award of Distinction. A 2018 Sierra Chapter Legacy Award winner, Patsy’s methods of working with young people to understand their needs for a supportive public realm were once considered revolutionary but are now accepted practice and have inspired localities to create welcoming public places for young people.  

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Laurel Raines, ASLA
Dig Studio, Denver  

Nomination in Works by the Colorado Chapter  

As one of Denver’s early design leaders, Laurel Raines has inspired and pioneered new paths for several generations of landscape architects to explore and challenge the status quo for greater environmental, social, and equitable outcomes. With her ability to work seamlessly across both the art and science of the landscape architect’s craft, she has pursued ideas and technologies that have helped shift traditional approaches in arid landscape design to a more sustainable aesthetic while contributing foundational spaces that have grown into thriving neighborhoods and communities. 

In the award-winning 4,700-acre Central Park (formerly Stapleton) community, over 23 years she developed design guidelines for parks, plazas, event spaces, streetscapes, and mixed-use retail districts and designed five projects and 11 out of 12 neighborhoods. She also introduced a plant palette that reflects the native sand hills prairie grasslands. With Carpio Sanguinette/Heron Pond Park Master Plan in Denver, Laurel led a team of landscape architects, engineers, plant ecologists, and community outreach consultants to produce a vision plan of sustainable growth with rich natural open space interspersed with community and recreational amenities. The 80-acre regional park has four ecological/use zones that handle stormwater flows from 700 acres within an articulated site. At Paco Sanchez Park, named for Denver’s first Spanish-speaking broadcaster, Laurel made water quality improvements, enhanced water conservation, and preserved mature trees with a design that resulted in a 633% increase in usage. The design team implemented a quarter-mile ‘Play Loop’ concept, featuring a music bowl, fog jet fountain, sports court, skate park, play pods, and an iconic climbing tower.  

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Jane Reed Ross, ASLA
Goodwyn Mills Cawood, Birmingham, AL 

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Alabama Chapter  

In her distinguished 40-year career, Jane Reed Ross has been a pioneer in developing creative destinations in greenspace and connectivity that promote active lifestyles for traditionally underserved populations. Her site design, planning, and placemaking solutions have transformed the landscape of the Birmingham, Alabama, metro area, and enhanced the economic, environmental, social, and health outcomes of the region. Her contributions are deep and broad, encompassing cultural landscapes, vibrant urban districts, and revitalized inner-city neighborhoods, as well as iconic trails and destination parks. She has been able to bring to fruition multiple pivotal projects because she connects people, municipalities, nonprofits, and agencies to create partnerships for fundraising and implementing progressive outdoor spaces. Between 1993 and 2007, Ross Land Design created or revamped many public spaces, including The Birmingham Children’s Zoo, Homewood Central Park, Veterans Memorial Park, and Liberty Park. She was instrumental in building one of the first multi-use trails in the state, the Homewood Shades Creek Greenway, and the first trail in the future Red Rock Trail Network. In 2008 she joined the multidisciplinary firm of Goodwyn Mills Cawood, where she leads the landscape architecture design on public work projects throughout the Southeast. Some of her significant projects include the Red Rock Trail Master Plan for Jefferson County and Rotary Park, where, partnering with Birmingham Rotary Club, she created a linear park and greenway through the heart of Birmingham in a depressed rail bed. She served as Alabama Chapter president from 2014-2016 and was recognized in 2021 with their Service Award.  

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Dale Schafer, ASLA
Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture, Hudson, NY  

Nomination in Works by the New York ASLA Chapter  

Dale Schafer’s award-winning work, his holistic approach to design, and his passion for horticulture are a living testament to the significance of landscape architecture leadership in designing public spaces. He is an exemplary collaborator, designer, and problem solver with a keen understanding of scale, function, and aesthetics, able to engage and lead allied disciplines on complex assignments. His modernist style balances the utilitarian and ecological nature of rural vernacular and contemporary design. At the award-winning Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park in Queens, New York, Dale led the overall park design refinement and details, as well as community engagement, to transform this post-industrial site into a climate-resilient park that provides public access to the waterfront and a superb view of the New York skyline. A series of landscape interventions and innovative planting strategies add ecological resiliency to the vulnerable East River shoreline. Heritage Field at Macombs Dam Park in the Bronx is a 13-acre recreational park located directly adjacent to the new Yankee Stadium with a portion of it on the roof of the stadium parking garage. The park provides the community with extensive and diverse recreation facilities, playgrounds, and pedestrian thoroughfares with an overlay of interpretive elements that honor the site’s history. In the Baoshan District of Shanghai, Dale was challenged to design a park and open space plan for a series of high-density neighborhoods situated among cranes and shipping containers on the inaccessible Yangtze River. The two new Baoshan Harbor City Parks and the open space plan set a precedent for post-industrial waterfront design.   

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Christopher L. Schein, ASLA
Hord Coplan Macht, Baltimore  

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Maryland Chapter  

For close to four decades, Chris Schein has continually elevated landscape architecture as a critical component of the plan, vision, and design of memorable public spaces. A leader at Hord Coplan Macht, one of the largest multidisciplinary design firms, Chris has played a pivotal role in the firm’s growth, while ensuring active collaboration across disciplines throughout all office and market sectors, with landscape architecture being integral to the design portfolio. His design sensibilities and ability to navigate a design through a complex public review process with multiple city agencies stand as shining examples of what landscape architects can achieve. Chris is a recognized leader on important rehabilitation projects for major historical national and state parks and monuments, including security streetscape around the Capitol, the US Supreme Court, the US Treasury, House Office Buildings, and the rehabilitation of the 1812 DC war memorial. Chris has given almost 30 years of volunteer leadership to ASLA locally and nationally, most notably helping to protect landscape architecture licensure in the State of Maryland. As a volunteer trustee of the Historic Annapolis Foundation, Chris’s perspective on preservation and urban redevelopment challenges has been critical to the effort to create a landscape-oriented pedestrian-friendly master plan for City Dock. As a practitioner, firm leader, passionate citizen, and advocate, Chris ensures that landscape architecture’s aesthetic, experiential, and environmental priorities are part of every phase of a wide range of high-use, high-visibility projects. 

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Jean Senechal Biggs, ASLA
City of Beaverton, OR  

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Oregon Chapter  

Jean Senechal Biggs has dedicated her career to planning, designing, and building transportation systems that work for everyone. A skilled and effective advocate for streets where walking, biking, and riding public transit are efficient and safe, Jean spent the first 20 years of her career with the Portland Bureau of Transportation, planning, designing, and building capital projects during a time when the city evolved as a national model for livable communities. Today, Jean leads transportation policy and planning, major capital projects, active transportation initiatives, and regional coordination for the city of Beaverton, a first-tier suburb of Portland. Through Jean’s visionary leadership and skilled management, Beaverton is rapidly emerging as a model for transforming auto-oriented suburbs to people-centered places. Jean is a highly regarded leader within ASLA, sharing her voice and expertise on numerous committees, activities, and publications, including serving as chapter president, before becoming a trustee in 2017. She has dedicated hundreds of hours to ASLA and was recently elected ASLA Vice President of Professional Practice. Fluent in all phases of project delivery, Jean is a respected team leader and skilled at facilitating community groups and elected officials through challenging decision-making processes. The impact of Jean’s work extends beyond the communities she serves; she generously shares her expertise at national conferences, with the National Park Service Rivers Trails and Conservation Assistance program, with rural communities, in online publications, and with peers eager to learn about Portland’s renowned transportation system.  

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Michele Shelor, ASLA
Colwell Shelor Landscape Architecture, Phoenix  

Nomination in Works by the Arizona Chapter  

For more than 23 years, Michele Shelor has led the design of many of the most imaginative and technically challenging projects in the west, creating poetry through landscape and hardscape design, while ensuring environmental stewardship and socially responsible leadership. Her designs are grounded in research into the site’s history, context, and societal challenges and the role of design in fostering positive community impact. With a body of work that has been recognized with nearly 60 professional awards, Michele has been combating the negative impacts of extreme weather through a collaborative and thoughtful design approach, social sensitivities, and desire to improve the physical and mental well-being of clients and community. At Cloud Song, an eight-acre development housing the Indigenous Scholars Institute and Cultural Center and Business School at Scottsdale Community College, the contemporary exterior spaces celebrate and commemorate Native American culture, environmental teachings, and craft, with the design intent to promote conscious inclusion. At Scottsdale’s Museum of the West’s five-acre site, a high-performance landscape with a series of bioswales provides enhanced green spaces and social amenities and captures 100% of the museum’s condensate and rainwater runoff. A 2.5-acre property at the base of Camelback Mountain in Paradise Valley was transformed by revegetation and a “ghost wash” that uses all storm water captured by the roof and cascading terraces of alternating patio and garden spaces. One of the terraces acts as a cistern for passive plant irrigation. Michele has repeatedly demonstrated landscape architecture’s power to fuse the ecological, sensory, and spatial characteristics of a site with its region and create a lasting place of integrity.   

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Judith Stilgenbauer, ASLA
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Manoa  

Nomination in Leadership/Management by Hawaii Chapter  

Judith Stilgenbauer is a visionary force attuned to Hawaii’s distinct professional, academic, and government landscapes. In less than a decade, she not only demonstrated sensitivity to these unique communities but also established Hawaii’s first accredited MLA program. Judith’s transformative leadership has pioneered educational advancements and set a precedent for excellence, leaving an indelible mark on the intersection of academia, government, and the landscape architecture profession in Hawaii. Beyond program development and other administrative roles, Judith’s academic thought leadership in the areas of performative landscape architecture, ecological urban design, nature-based solutions, and coastal resilience/climate-adaptation design has resulted in a high level of recognition and prominence in the field. In her professional practice, she has been the lead designer and principal investigator for projects that have won design competitions and awards and been featured prominently in a range of publications. Notably, her applied coastal resilience and sea-level rise adaptation design research has generated significant public attention, grants, and lecture invitations, further underscoring her impact on the profession. Before being recruited by UHM to develop, establish, and manage accreditation of the MLA program, Judith spent nine years on the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley and several years at Technische Universität Műnchen, Germany. Judith’s leadership extends into positions within ASLA, including the ASLA Board of Trustees, the Committee on Education, and the Climate Action Committee, and leadership roles within the Hawaii Chapter.  

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Leo Urban, ASLA
Urban Associates, Delray Beach, FL  

Nomination in Service by the Florida Chapter  

Leo Urban has a long history of pro bono service as an important advocate for water conservation and sustainable site design. He constantly pushes the boundaries of traditional landscape architecture practice, promoting the profession to be the leaders in low impact stormwater management design. Leo has volunteered his time to work with government agencies, educators, artists, planners, landscape architects, and other licensed professionals to promote sustainable site design and innovative stormwater management practices. He successfully influenced the New Hampshire State Legislature to change a bill that would have eliminated licensure for landscape architects and other professionals. Leo represented the Florida Chapter on the Florida Stormwater Management Design Task Force and through his diligent efforts was able to get a bill passed that gave qualified landscape architects the right to prepare stormwater management plans and runoff calculations. This vote completely changed the practice of landscape architects and provided new opportunities in the state of Florida and set a precedent for other states to follow. In Palm Beach County, his volunteer efforts led to changes in the land development code to allow qualified registered landscape architects to prepare, sign and seal, and certify site lighting photometric plans. In Leo’s life of service, he has given over six years of his personal time to researching stormwater design and management methodology, developing training courses, and training and educating landscape architects and public officials.   

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Glen Valentine, ASLA
Stimson, Cambridge, MA  

Nomination in Works by the Boston Chapter  

Glen Valentine approaches landscape architecture by celebrating regional ecologies, reinterpreting forgotten histories, and advancing sustainable design. At Reed Hilderbrand and now Stimson, Glen has for thirty years demonstrated exquisite command of and respect for the tools and tectonics of the profession, including his notable planting design. Across scales, on campuses, and in the public realm, his award-winning work is created for access and enjoyment while advancing ecological design. Glen’s work with Boston College (since 2006) has transformed several quadrangles by redefining circulation arteries and, drawing from the 1912 plan of the historic core, he reestablished a tree canopy and planted perennials and shrubs around the quadrangle creating small-scale spaces designed for individual or small group study. Working with structural engineers, Glen reimagined the MIT Hayden Library Lipchitz rooftop courtyard over an existing mid-century structure by balancing a nine-square grid of new trees enclosed by a sculptural bench and raised garden beds and including an outdoor sculpture gallery. The expansive courtyard is now used frequently as a public gathering place that provides a multisensory experience with a diverse collection of native azaleas, early blooming perennials, bulbs, and evergreen ground covers. In the first park built over the buried I-93, the Mary Soo Hoo Park in Boston’s densely populated Chinatown, Glen celebrates the eponymous activist in a series of granite mounds that double as a climbing structure, paying homage to the seven mountains of Chinese mythology. Glen’s multi-layered planting plan reduced the urban heat island effect and transformed the site’s local ecology.