To show continued support of academic members, ASLA President SuLin Kotowicz, FASLA, and Vice President of Education Ebru Özer, FASLA, attended the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Conference in St. Louis, MO March 20-23. The theme was Taking Action: Making Change.

Both Kotowicz and Özer attended the Program Chairs Meeting prior to the start of the conference where Özer provided an update on ASLA initiatives that are of particular importance to academic members, including the recently published peer-reviewed faculty research on landscape architecture solutions to extreme heat by Daniella Hirschfeld, ASLA, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Utah State University and biodiversity crisis by Sohyun Park, ASLA, Ph.D. Assistant Professor at University of Connecticut.

Later in the conference, there was a session where Dr. Park and her students presented their research, which Özer introduced. President Kotowicz also was able to spend some time with CELA President Chingwen Cheng, ASLA, Ph.D. and IFLA President Bruno Marques, Ph.D.

The following week, both Kotowicz and Özer attended the LABash Conference at University of California Davis in Davis, CA. President Kotowicz provided opening remarks where she shared her path throughout ASLA that led to her presidency and invited the attendees to celebrate ASLA’s 125 anniversary at the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture in Washington, D.C. in October.

Both Kotowicz and Özer spent time engaging with students, hearing their stories and aspirations in the profession, and providing them with on-the-spot mentorship. ASLA also had a booth at the LABash Expo where early release copies of the April issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine were available, along with copies of ASLA’s Climate Action Plan and Field Guide.

LABash in Davis, CA / SuLin Kotowicz, FASLA

Vice President Özer also presented on a panel “Academia, Practice, or Both: Unlocking the Doors to Diverse Academic Careers” along with C.L. Bohannon, FASLA, Carlos Flores, ASLA, Claire Napawan, and moderated by ASLA Accreditation and Education Director Kristopher Pritchard, Hon. ASLA.

The four faculty members shared their own stories and pathways into academia as department head, associate dean, adjunct professor, and program chair, respectively, to encourage and excite the next generation of landscape architecture faculty. And Matthew Gallagher from ASLA’s Government Affairs team presented on the panel “Omelette You Finish, but Licensure is One of the Most Important Steps in Your Career” describing the importance of and path to getting licensed.