The Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) has announced the 94 exceptional student leaders honored as 2024 LAF Olmsted Scholars, including the two national winners and six finalists.

Nina Weithorn, Associate ASLA, a Master of Landscape Architecture student at the University of Southern California, was selected as the graduate 2024 National Olmsted Scholar and winner of the $25,000 award. Nina has a background in agriculture and environmental science. She plans to use the award to continue her work on the Allensworth Agricultural Experiment Station (AAES) in Tulare County, California, testing soil-building techniques inspired by African Dark Earth and cultivating climate-adapted and culturally significant crops in collaboration with Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities in Allensworth.

Julia Li, Student ASLA, a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture student at The Pennsylvania State University, was selected as the undergraduate 2024 National Olmsted Scholar, receiving the $15,000 award. A Schreyer Honors Scholar, Julia is also pursuing a minor in meteorology. Merging her design and scientific training, Julia is passionate about creating tangible solutions that mitigate the consequences of climate inequality. Building from her honors thesis, she intends to use the award to work on a climate resilience training and response strategy in the Kilombero Valley in Morogoro, Tanzania, incorporating weather data alongside generational knowledge.

Also honored are six National Olmsted Scholar Finalists. The graduate finalists, who each receive a $5,000 award, are:

• Cameron Coronado, Student ASLA, University of Oregon
• Aya Keskeso, Student ASLA, Kent State University
• Tatiana Veloso, Associate ASLA, North Carolina State University

The undergraduate finalists, who each receive a $3,000 award, are:

• Juan Perez, Associate ASLA, University of Florida
• Madison Sanders, Associate ASLA, University of Oregon
• Ellen Sedlacek, Associate ASLA, Louisiana State University

Two independent juries selected the winners and finalists from a group of 52 master’s and 42 undergraduate students nominated by their faculty for their exceptional leadership potential. The nominees each earn the designation of 2024 LAF Olmsted Scholar and join the community of 1,163 LAF Olmsted Scholars named since the program’s inception in 2008.

Now in its 17th year, the LAF Olmsted Scholars Program is the premier leadership recognition program for landscape architecture students. It is made possible with support from: Coldspring, Design Workshop, EDSA, Field Operations, Hart Howerton, HOK, IRONSMITH, LandDesign, OJB, OLIN, Sasaki, Stantec, SWA, Steven G. King, FASLA, and Bill and Kathy Main, Hon. ASLA. Promotion Partner: American Society of Landscape Architects.

The 2024 Olmsted Scholars will be honored at LAF’s 39th Annual Benefit on Sunday, October 6 in Washington, DC, held in conjunction with the ASLA 2024 Conference on Landscape Architecture.

See the entire group of 2024 Olmsted Scholars