Alum Profiles

Current Vocation: 
Urban and Resilience Associate, The Nature Conservancy

What were you doing before you applied to the Conway School?
Landscaping and Construction.

What brought you to Conway?
A one-year masters program, an emphasis on marketable skills, and a philosophy of nature that I resonated with.

Imagine we just met, and recognized we had common interests. How would you describe Conway to me?
Conway is where you meet others who want to geek out—as must as you do—about bioswales, food forests, wildlife corridors, and multi-modal greenway trails!

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in the field?
Be clear about what inspires you, pace yourself everyday, and recognize that working with people and communities inevitably complicates design ideals.

What are you doing right now, and what do you love about it?
I am helping the Connecticut Chapter of The Nature Conservancy scale up its capacity for site design with a particular focus in urban areas and areas adapting to climate change. I love that my job combines the pace and thoughtfulness of a non-profit with the action-oriented approach of a consultancy.

List one or more books that you find influential in the field of ecological design and/or planning.
Edible Forest Gardens, Dave Jacke; Principles of Ecological Landscape Design, Travis Beck; Design with Nature, Ian McHarg

What book changed your life?
Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual, Bill Mollison

What is your favorite tool? 
Hori hori; ArcGIS

How do you think ecological design and planning can help make positive change?
Ecological design and planning helps cut through ideologies of environmentalism, community development, and economic growth that can often feel at odds with one other. It forces decision makers to grapple with actual rather than perceived trade-offs and find important synergies across disciplines.

Which aspects of your Conway education do you use in your current work? 
Stakeholder engagement, site analysis, GIS, schematic designs, graphic rendering, document layout.

What blogs or podcasts do you recommend? Particular posts or episodes?
ReWild Yourself Podcast, in particular episodes Ben Falk and Sam Thayer; Nutritious Movement podcast, Katy Bowman