On Tuesday, November 12, 2024, 1:30pm EST, ASLA's STEM Literacy by Design: Meet the Authors Webinar Series continues with Harvard University Students, Yuqi Zhang, ASLA and Xinran Ma, ASLA who will discuss their award-winning pop-up book for tweens/teens, Wonderland of Weeds. Registration is required. 

"With beautiful, delicate, hand-drawn colored pencil illustrations, the duo turns the notion of what a weed is on its head, changing the reader’s perspective along the way. The book focuses on the aesthetic and ecological value of weeds, as well as their edible and medical uses. It’s thoroughly participatory, with lessons on how to make dye, refine medicine, and cook a meal. Weed ecology gets its due, foregrounding the abilities of weeds as pioneer species to bring verdancy back to bare ground. Throughout, the book is filled with experiments in cultivation and observation that let weeds tell their own story in the landscape." (LAM, Sept. 2024) 

Photo credit: Xinran Ma, ASLA, Yuqi, ASLA

About the Authors

Xinran Ma, ASLA is a landscape designer at Hoerr Schaudt. She recently earned her Master of Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Hailing from Kunming in Yunnan Province—a region famous for its rich botanical diversity and recognized as a biodiversity hotspot—Xinran developed a passion for plants when she was a child. Her deep interest in botanical and ecological topics led her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture at Sichuan University. After seven years of professional landscape architecture study, Xinran has a unique sensitivity and aesthetic to design, narrative, and graphic expression and aspires to leverage her skills and insights in her future practice. 

Yuqi Zhang, ASLA is a third-year Master of Landscape Architecture student at Harvard Graduate School of Design. Growing up in Beijing, she had a joyful childhood exploring nature, received professional training in art during middle school, and later earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the Central Academy of Fine Arts. With over 15 years of drawing experience, hand drawing has become an essential tool for her to express, document, and explore ideas. Yuqi is passionate about the spatial experience and aesthetics of everyday life, with a commitment to public awareness and engagement. She has gained some experience working on spatial aesthetics and plant materials through internships at Reed Hilderbrand, Cultivar Gardens, and several architecture firms.  

 Photo credit: Xinran Ma, ASLA (left), Yuqi, ASLA (right) 

Please direct questions about the STEM Literacy by Design webinar series and other Career Discovery and Diversity resources to Lisa J. Jennings at ljennings@asla.org.