What were you doing before you applied to the Conway School?
Chocolatier and environmental educator
What brought you to Conway?
I had been considering attending Conway for several years before I finally applied. I was a student of permaculture, a long-time hobbyist gardener, and an environmental educator. I kept running into graduates of the program, and it seemed to offer the kind of personalized, ecologically grounded education I was looking for.
Imagine we just met, and recognized we had common interests. How would you describe Conway to me?
Conway is a small, hands-on, crash-course design school with a liberal arts heart.
What advice do you have for someone just starting out in the field?
Conway breeds graduates in a new field. Be patient in finding your dream job–you’re likely going to have to build it yourself. Also, be open–you never know what you’re going to stumble across!
What are you doing right now, and what do you love about it?
I am the Land Use Planning Manager for the state of Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, In this role, I am working on projects such as preparing the Commonwealth’s first statewide land use plan, managing the Land Use Planning Assistance grant program, promulgating regulations for the Transfer of Development Rights revolving fund, and acting as liaison between EEA and other state departments such as the Department of Transportation and the Executive Office of Housing and Liveable Communities. I love that I get to center climate adaptation planning at a statewide level, especially during a time of uncertain federal leadership on that front.
Previous roles included the Assistant Town Manager / Director of Planning & Community Development for the Town of Longmeadow, as well as work for all 43 towns of the Pioneer Valley as a regional land use and environment planner.
List one or more books that you find influential in the field of ecological design and/or planning.
For design, I love Claudia West’s Planting in a Post-Wild World. For planning, the literature is unlimited. I am yet to find my bible!
What book changed your life?
Ceremonial Time by John Hanson Mitchell. A book about despair and hope in the long era of climate change.