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Kate graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College with a degree in civil engineering and studio art. Her passion for creative problem‐solving led her to a first career in education, initially working with at‐risk youth and later teaching mathematics and physics in the Boston public school system. During her tenure as a teacher, Kate earned a Master’s degree in Education and became fascinated with how the urban environments her students inhabited influenced their school performance. She came to the M.L.A. program at the University of Massachusetts in order to understand the design of quality urban open space. For the past three years she has worked as a research assistant on a NSF grant evaluating urban greening programs in Boston, and her thesis research examines the ecological and educational impacts of the Boston Schoolyard Initiative. Kate works part‐time at Dodson Associates and imagines a career at the intersection of education and landscape architecture: designing engaging urban landscapes both for, and in collaboration with, youth.
2011 National Olmsted Scholar
Kate Tooke
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Degree sought: Master of Landscape ArchitectureCharles Hamilton is in his final year of a Master of Landscape Architecture program at the State University of New York – College of Environmental Science and Forestry. After receiving his B.A. degree in geography, he worked in the public environmental sector and the technology industry. During his time as a graduate student, he has worked for the Syracuse Environmental Finance Center to help connect New York farmers directly to local consumers, and with the Center for Community Design Research, participating in a range of community design projects. Additionally, he created and conducted a series of community engagement activities for his capstone project at a 1,300-student girls’ school in Marrakech, Morocco. His interests and future goals include using design to help underprivileged groups and engaging communities in the design process. In his leadership role as a graduate teaching assistant, he has guided students’ work in design studios and community workshop facilitation.
2011 National Olmsted Scholar Finalist
Charles Hamilton
State University of New York
Degree sought: Master of Landscape ArchitectureAlison Hirsch is completing her final semester in the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2008, she received her doctorate in Architecture. Her scholarship focused on twentieth-century shifts in environmental design and ecological planning and the implications of these shifts on the landscape architecture profession today. Alison also has a master’s in historic preservation, with a Cultural Landscape concentration. For this degree, she explored the potential of preservation as a tool for social and community sustainability and development. She has consulted community organizations and firms on design and neighborhood-based preservation projects and has published essays in a number of academic journals. She made the bold decision to return to school after working as a Visiting Lecturer in the Landscape Architecture department of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. After receiving her M.L.A., Alison will continue researching, publishing, teaching and designing to make a socially-responsible impact on the quality of the environment and the direction of the landscape architecture profession.
2011 National Olmsted Scholar Finalist
Alison Hirsch
University of Pennsylvania
Degree sought: Master of Landscape ArchitectureSarah Primeau is completing the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the University of British Columbia. During her time at UBC she sat on the BC Society of Landscape Architects Board of Directors, and conducted green roof research for UBC’s GreenSkins Lab. She recently co-presented her research at CitiesAlive 2010, an international green roof conference. Prior to enrolling in the M.L.A. program, Sarah completed a master’s degree in ecology, where she studied landscape-scale ecological processes and their role in shaping a unique wetland on the Gulf of Mexico. For her graduate project, Sarah is designing a regenerative landscape in Richmond, British Columbia, with the goal of helping the city adapt to rising sea-levels while increasing its livability, ecological richness, and island identity. Sarah aspires to design landscapes that contribute to societal health and well-being through the generation of ecological services and the support of human aspirations for place.
2011 National Olmsted Scholar Finalist
Sarah Primeau
University of British Columbia
Degree sought: Master of Landscape ArchitectureAbigail Shemoel will receive a professional Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from Ball State University in the summer of 2011. She is spending her final semester at Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, studying Brazilian concepts of sustainability and completing her thesis on strategies for improving informal settlements. Abigail’s extensive international experience – studying the landscapes of Western Europe, interning in Argentina, and conducting research in Costa Rica – have earned her a Udall Scholarship and shaped her understanding of the various relationships people share with the land. Recognizing the need to improve this relationship where overpopulation and crowding threaten social and environmental wellbeing, she intends to complete an M.Sc. in Urban Development Planning from University College London. Her passion for creative design will remain critical as she ultimately seeks to develop sustainable solutions to accommodate the growth of our cities, through the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.
2011 National Olmsted Scholar Finalist
Abigail Shemoel
Ball State University
Degree sought: Bachelor of Landscape ArchitectureAndrew Zientek is a landscape architect completing a post-professional Master of Landscape Architecture program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Having practiced professionally in widely varied contexts – working in China for EDAW, with artist/designer Vito Acconci, with plantsman Piet Oudolf and overseeing design for a property development company – Andrew returned to the academic setting to define his position within the discipline of landscape architecture. Andrew is currently completing a thesis project, advised by Sanford Kwinter, entitled Nervous Landscapes. Working with two hospitals in the Longwood Medical Campus in Boston, the project seeks to highlight the delicate interplay of mind, body and environment by compressing and revealing the exchanges and rhythms that exist in human-landscape relationships. Upon graduation, Andrew plans to start his own practice, Terrain Studios, to continue this work, both directly within the medical field but also by broadly championing the importance of landscape in our daily life.
2011 National Olmsted Scholar Finalist
Andrew Zientek
Harvard University
Degree sought: Master of Landscape Architecture
Weekly LAF Blog Feature: Guest posts from the 2011 Olmsted Scholars
