People

Faculty

Conway’s faculty and visiting instructors are experienced teachers and professional designers and planners at the forefront of their fields. Members of the faculty actively maintain professional careers in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, wetland science, ecological consulting, environmental restoration, regenerative design, and municipal planning.

Our teachers are more likely to ask questions than to give answers. This doesn’t mean you can’t get a straight answer out of them, just that they think it is better to encourage thoughtfulness than to impose a solution from another place or time.

Core faculty members provide continuity. At least one core teacher works with the students every day; sometimes it’s four. In addition to teaching classes, they carefully monitor the progress of individual students and teams, gauging where the class is as a whole and making adjustments to the timing of the subjects being presented.

The presence of part-time faculty members who are also professionals in design, planning, and ecology helps ensure that expectations of student work and of faculty instruction meet current professional practices and incorporate current concepts, skills, software, research findings, regulations, best practices, and terminology.

Jesse Bellemare

Ecology

Denise Burchsted

Ecology

Ken Byrne

Humanities; Academic Coordination

Anne Capra

Planning

Kate Cholakis

Landscape Planning and Design; Digital Design

Ken Comia, AICP

Planning

Sebastian Gutwein

Digital Design; Surveying

Bill Lattrell

Ecology (Emeritus)

Sara Lawler

Landscape Design

Visiting Speakers

Conway invites landscape designers, planners, educators, ecologists, and other professionals to lecture at the school, work with students in studio, or hold a field session. While the faculty schedule many speakers on an annual or biennial basis, the school also regularly brings in new speakers. The range of topics woven into the Conway School’s visiting speaker series speaks to the cross-scale approach of the curriculum, the interdisciplinary nature of climate change impacts and solutions, and the school’s integrative understanding of ecological design.

Browse our Recent Speakers by Topic Area

Agriculture & Food

Brian Donahue, Professor Emeritus of American Environmental Studies, Brandeis University, shared his research on increasing local food production in New England, and stressed the importance of living wages, affordable healthcare, ecosystem service incentives, and regulations.
Nancy J. Hayden, Co-creator, The Farm Between
Eric Toensmeier, writer, trainer, and consultant working on agricultural climate change mitigation, shared his research on solutions in the food, agriculture, land, and nature-based carbon removal sectors.

Climate Change

Chris Campany, Executive Director, Windham Regional Council
Alexis Doshas, Nursery Manager, Native Plant Trust
Emily Slotnick, Climate Resilience Manager, BETA Group

Conservation, Habitat, and Soil

Seana Cullinan ’12, Founder, Larkspur Design
Kate Kennen, Landscape Architect and author, Phyto
Dr. Desiree Narango, David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Danielle Perry, NOAA Marine Habitat Resource Specialist, reminded students that people think of resources in different ways, and that we need to understand what they value and how. Her climate vulnerability assessments include both climate change impacts to natural communities, like salt marshes, and how these impacts will affect human communities that value them.
Neha Savant, Wildlife and Fisheries Ecologist, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, reminded us that all environmental problems are political problems. Being a scientist (or a designer) means taking sides: neither field is entirely subjective.
Lauren Stimson, Partner, STIMSON

Design Process

David Buckley Borden, Interdisciplinary Artist and Designer
Mohamad A. Chakaki, Senior Fellow, Center for Whole Communities and the Environmental Leadership Program
Walter Cudnohufsky, Founder of the Conway School and Owner, Walter Cudnohufsky Associates
Matthew Cunningham, Principal, Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design
Darrel Morrison, FASLA, Landscape Architect
Lauren Wheeler ’03, Founder, Natural Resources Design
Tobias Wolf, Landscape architect and owner, Wolf Landscape Architecture

Environmental Justice

Magdalena Ayed, Founder and Executive Director, Harborkeepers
April Baptiste, Professor of Environmental Studies and Africana and Latin American Studies, Colgate University, discussed how knowledge does not consistently predict behavior. In her work with Caribbean communities experiencing sea level rise, she seeks to understand peoples’ beliefs, values, and attitudes.
Bobby Boone, Founder and Chief Strategist, &Access Retail; Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland
Chingwen Cheng, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Director of the Stuckeman School, Penn State University, presented her “Climate Justice Design” framework, which integrates justice theory and engages communities in co-designing climate actions that meet their needs. Cheng emphasizes nature-based solutions in her practice and research.
Tracy A. Corley, Ph.D., Director of Research and Partnerships, Conservation Law Foundation, spoke with students about equitable infrastructure: “if you take care of people, you take care of the planet.” The actions and systems that contribute the greatest to global warming depend upon their ability to exploit people. How can we, as designers and planners, but also as community members, challenge these actions and systems?
Jessica Hernandez, Ph.D., Author, “Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes” through Indigenous Science
Serin Houston, Associate Professor of Geography and International Relations at Mount Holyoke College, called for collaborative and creative governance to produce more equitable human migration outcomes in response to climate change.
Dr. S. Atyia Martin, CEO and Founder, All Aces, Inc.
Vernice Miller-Travis, Executive Vice President, Metropolitan Group

Planning & Infrastructure

Cassandra Johnson Gaither, Research Social Scientist, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station
Breyonne Jeter ’16, Senior Planner/Project Manager, Ayres Associates
Ambar Johnson, Senior Associate, Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates
Dr. Theodore Jojola, Distinguished Professor and Regents’ Professor in the Community and Regional Planning Program, School of Architecture and Planning, University of New Mexico
Daphne Lundi, Managing Director, Urban Ocean Lab, stressed social cohesion as a critical component of climate resilience. Climate change has a crippling effect on public health, and building strong social networks through shared community spaces (libraries, open spaces) is critical to survival.
Dr. Banu Subramaniam, Professor and Chair, Department of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Greg Watson, Curator of the World Game Workshop and World Grid Project, the Schumacher Center

Storytelling & Representation

Bonita Eloise Ford, Restoration ecologist; author, “Embers of Hope: Embracing Life in an Age of Ecological Destruction and Climate Chaos”
Abra Lee, Founder, Conquer the Soil
Claire Napawan, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design Professor, University of California Davis
Samantha Solano, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Massachusetts Amherst

It has been really eye-opening to see different paths that others are walking and how they got there, as well as a great opportunity to learn from professionals.

Conway Student, 2022

Staff

The Conway School follows a flexible collaborative process that engages all employees in thoughtful discussion and participation in decisions large and small. We believe this model reflects the school’s mission, values, and curriculum; strengthens the institution’s ability to respond to challenges and take advantage of opportunities; and creates a collaborative, efficient workplace.

Cassandra Burns

Development Manager

Roxy Finn

Admissions Manager & Financial Aid Administrator

Emily Johnson

Projects Manager

Priscilla Novitt

Administrative Director

Kara Schnell

Finance Director

Dave Weber

Campus Manager

Elaine Williamson

Events Manager and Alum Liaison

Board of Trustees

Our volunteer board members are an integral part of our community, generously contributing their time and expertise to support the school’s mission. They provide thoughtful leadership in areas like financial oversight, strategic planning, and employee support, while also helping to bring in new members who share our values. With a deep commitment to the school’s success, they work collaboratively to ensure a strong and vibrant future for our institution.