The Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB) held its Winter 2024 Board Meeting in conjunction with the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Conference in St. Louis, Missouri on March 18-19.

LAAB welcomed three new board members:

• ASLA Representative Bill Estes, ASLA, PLA, LEED AP, Senior Landscape Architect at MIG in Seattle, WA and Affiliate Faculty Member at University of Washington
• Practitioner Member Mark Hough, FASLA, University Landscape Architect at Duke University in Durham, NC
• Public Member Chelina Odbert, Hon. ASLA, Founding Principal at Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) in Los Angeles, CA

Additionally, LAAB and CELA Boards held joint activities to engage as leaders of landscape architecture education, including a dinner with ASLA President SuLin Kotowicz, FASLA, and Vice President of Education Ebru Ozer, FASLA.

Washington University in St. Louis/ Kristopher Pritchard, Hon. ASLA

In addition to their typical board meeting, the LAAB spent an afternoon at Washington University in St. Louis. Faculty and students from the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts presented to the board around topics related to LAAB’s strategic areas of focus including international education and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Program Chair Derek Hoeferlin, Affiliate ASLA, and Visiting Assistant Professor L. Irene Compadre, ASLA, led the group on a tour of both Weil Hall and the east end transformation of campus.

Washington University in St. Louis / Kristopher Pritchard, Hon. ASLA

Lastly, LAAB Chair Roxi Thoren, ASLA, Director Kristopher Pritchard, Hon. ASLA, and Accreditation Coordinator Joyce Walker participated in the program administrator meeting as part of CELA’s pre-conference activities. More than 60 program administrators from professional landscape architecture programs discussed improving program visibility with various audiences. LAAB also offered an accreditation workshop where Thoren and Pritchard presented to 12 programs, both accredited and seeking accreditation, about the LAAB accreditation process, timeline, and best practices.