Trevor Buckley and Michele Carlson’s Fall Term projects received recent recognition by Town officials

in the Hampshire Gazette. Trevor and Michele provided the Chesterfield Cemetery Commission with a comprehensive report on two town cemeteries that may help guide town officials in planning for the properties. The 215-year-old Mount Cemetery is perched on the side of a mountain and tells the story of a long-ago bustling farm village. The Cemetery Commission sought design concepts for developing a low-maintenance landscape to enhance the appeal and function of the space, and explore the use of a woodland area for green burial. The Ireland Street Cemetery dates back 250 years and was expanded to 1.06 acres through the donation of land from neighbors in 2006. Utilizing the new area for green burials while maintaining the integrity of the historic features in the existing cemetery was the goal for this site.

William C. Jolly, Chesterfield’s Superintendent of Cemeteries, said “These students put together a very extensive and impressive report that shows us designs that could be implemented over time. They put in a phenomenal amount of work on these projects. They really provided us with several alternatives to the status quo of just linear lines in an open space.”

Past Conway students began exploring green burial with the “Mount Auburn Cemetery Natural Burial Guide” project in Cambridge, MA in 2009. See that full report here.

Trevor Buckley and Michele Carlson are scheduled to complete Conway”s MS in Ecological Design in June 2014. During the Winter Term, Trevor is working on a community bike path in southern Connecticut, and Michele is on a team designing a “Green Streets” infrastructure plan for Holyoke, MA.