Board of Directors

Alma Du Solier is a Mexican-American landscape architect and the Studio Director at Hood Design Studio, an award-winning cultural practice based in Oakland, California, which merges landscape architecture, public art, and urban design. Alma has a Bachelor’s in Architecture from ITESM (Mexico), and a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. She has been practicing in the U.S. since 1999, where she has been the lead designer for a wide range of projects primarily in complex urban settings. Alma is a recurrent guest lecturer for advanced design studios at UC Berkeley.

Alma joined the LAF Board of Directors because of her admiration for LAF’s mission which recognizes the transformative effect landscape has in our cities and beyond. In particular, she has contributed time and thought leadership to the LAF programs that provide direct support to students and young professionals. 

Alexa Bush is passionate about creating equitable and resilient cities. She is a Program Officer at the Kresge Foundation. The Kresge Foundation is a private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in America’s cities through grantmaking and social investing in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services and community development, nationally and in Detroit, Memphis and New Orleans. Previously, Alexa managed a team of planners and designers responsible for planning and implementing neighborhood development and landscape infrastructure projects on Detroit's east side. She has also been a project lead for Detroit's Reimagining the Civic Commons initiatives, working with a multi-sector team to improve civic engagement, equity, and environmental sustainability through reinvestment into neighborhood scale public spaces co-created with residents. Prior to her Detroit work, she gained diverse experience in communities across the US on urban design, historic landscape preservation and large-scale planning projects.

Alexa received her bachelor's degree in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University and her master's in Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia.

Michael is the Chair of Landscape Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Ecology and sits on the Board of Directors at Sasaki. Leading the much of the firm’s international work, he offers unique insight into the impacts of urbanization in rapidly growing cities around the world. Michael's career spans a variety of project types and scales including regional planning, urban districts, and waterfronts. He collaborates closely with clients, consultants, stakeholders, and a host of allied professionals to generate planning and design strategies that result in visionary yet pragmatic solutions.

Michael is a fierce advocate for the vital role that landscape architects play in shaping contemporary society, and believes that the role of the designer is to make cities more livable, equitable, resilient, and just. He was attracted to serving on the LAF Board of Directors because he feels that landscape architects need to foster collaboration within and beyond our professional expertise to exchange best practices, increase dialogue, remain curious, and be more visible as thought leaders. Landscape architects must claim a strategic seat at the table where decisions impacting the future of the planet are made, and Michael feels that LAF’s focus on expanding diversity in the profession is critical to ensure that a variety of perspectives, expertise, and lived experiences result in more inclusive solutions to the pressing social and environmental issues of our time.

Austin Allen, PhD, FASLA, approaches urban environments with works including “Claiming Open Spaces.” He has worked on disaster recovery in New Orleans since 2005 and in Haiti in 2010. Allen is part of the landscape architectural firm, Design Jones LLC, with Diane Jones Allen---recipients, 2016 ASLA Community Service Award.

He is the Interim Associate Dean of the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs and an Associate Professor of Practice in the School of Architecture, University of Texas at Arlington. Allen was Associate Professor at the Louisiana State University, School of Landscape Architecture. He was also Associate Professor/ Chair of Landscape Architecture at the University of Colorado Denver and an Associate Professor of Film/Communication at Cleveland State University.

Elaine Kearney, PLA, leads TBG San Antonio as Managing Principal where she works to create compelling landscapes rooted in the ecology and unique environment of the Edwards Plateau region. Before returning to her native Texas in 2015, Elaine practiced in Cambridge, MA and Portland, OR. Her background also includes academic engagements at such institutions as Trinity University, Boston Architecture Center and Portland State University. Elaine was honored as the recipient of the 2022 Texas ASLA Service Award for her commitment to advancing landscape architecture causes in Texas and beyond.

Elaine believes that the issues of our time require the nuanced voices of landscape architects and was attracted to serving on the LAF Board of Directors, in part, by LAF’s emphasis on future practitioners. She’s excited to play a role in expanding diversity and access to landscape architecture education through LAF’s scholarship programs.

B. Scott LaMont, PLA, ASLA, is a 25-year veteran of EDSA. As CEO, his responsibilities include overseeing the 180-person firm, setting the tone of a firmwide culture, and developing a growth strategy that prioritizes design excellence. Possessing a collaborative style, LaMont has a proven track record in leading teams, projects, and strategic initiatives. In addition to his leadership role at EDSA, he is currently involved in several project initiatives, which include the revitalization of Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s Food and Technology Village, the redevelopment of The Boca Raton resort, along with various international planning efforts. Optimistic and a critical thinker, his domestic and international experience spans large scale planning assignments to mixed-use, residential, hospitality, and urban works that have strengthened EDSA’s reputation as a creative leader. LaMont holds a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Florida, where he currently serves as the Chair of the Landscape Architecture Advisory Board.

Scott joined the Landscape Architecture Foundation Board of Directors because he strongly believes in the profession’s ability to shape the future through resilient design solutions. During Scott’s time on the board, he hopes to use his personal experiences to problem solve and contribute to thoughtful conversations while supporting the mission and initiatives of the organization.

Alexis C. Landes is Managing Principal at SCAPE, where she oversees firm-wide business development, project development, and finances. She liaises with clients to understand their needs, working within SCAPE to develop tailored design solutions, operational strategies, and project teams. Over the past 8 years, she has overseen the firm's expansion from one office with 12 staff members to 3 offices with nearly 100 staff members. As an experienced landscape designer and urban planner, Alexis has led the project teams for the Resilient Boston Harbor Vision and subsequent coastal resilience plan for the Dorchester neighborhood in the city. Profiled in Madame Architect on her leadership role at SCAPE, she frequently lectures about operational strategies for firm growth and practice across the U.S. 

​​In her role at LAF, she works with fellow board members and affiliated groups to advance collaborative leadership across the field of landscape architecture, advocating for diversity of voices across the Foundation's work and professional practice at large.

Emily McCoy, FASLA, SITES AP, is an Associate Professor of Practice at North Carolina State University and Principal at Design Workshop, an internationally renowned design firm specializing in landscape architecture, urban planning and strategic services with eight studios in the U.S. and projects spanning the globe. Emily leads Design Workshop’s Raleigh Studio and serves on Design Workshop’s Board of Directors. As a landscape architect, educator and ecologist, Emily approaches every project as an opportunity to celebrate the intersection of natural and cultural narratives of place through design and innovative technologies. Throughout her career Emily has remained passionate about her service to the community. In addition to the LAF Board of Directors, she volunteers for Partners for Environmental Justice and serves on NC A&T University’s Landscape Architecture Advisory Board, NCSU’s LAEP Advisory Board, and the Board of Trustees for the Design Workshop Foundation.

Patricia Algara, PLA, ASLA, was born and raised in Mexico, she is the founding principal of award-winning BASE Landscape Architecture. A recognized leader in sustainable design and community involvement, Patricia creates landscapes that immerse people of all backgrounds and abilities in learning, exploration and play. Patricia’s community involvement and advocacy expand the boundaries of traditional landscape architecture. She founded an NGO that creates healthy habitats for pollinators. She has lectured at many universities nationally and internationally. She received her MLA from UC Berkeley in 2007.

Patricia is honored and excited to be part of the LAF Board of Directors because of her admiration for LAF’s work and mission which believe that landscapes have the power to affect the world and change people’s lives.  She also sees this as an opportunity to learn, grow, and innovate alongside outstanding leaders in the profession. She is particularly committed to representing the voice of pollinators as species extinction has been identified as a key issue in the need for sustainable landscape solutions greater than ever and the need to identify nature as our main client.

C.L. Bohannon, PhD, FASLA, is the Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and Associate Professor in Landscape Architecture in the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia. Dr. Bohannon works in the landscape context of community history and identity, social/environmental (in)justice, and community learning. His research has contributed to the theorization and application of community engagement in design education. Dr. Bohannon teaches courses on community-engaged design research, design research methods, and seeing, understanding & representing landscapes.

He served as the President of the Virginia Chapter of ASLA in 2019 and was elevated to ASLA Fellow in 2023. His inspiration to be on the LAF Board stems from his deep commitment to fostering inclusive and equitable communities through design. He believes that serving on the board allows

Jim Burnett, FASLA, founded the Office of James Burnett in 1989 and has dedicated his career to creating meaningful spaces that challenge the conventional boundaries of landscape architecture. To date, OJB has garnered over eighty state and national design awards. Taking a multi disciplinary approach to his practice, Jim often works closely with design teams of highly-regarded architects, planners, artists, and other professionals and a diverse range of clients. Throughout his work, there has been a particularly strong focus on designing landscapes that promote healthy living. Most recently, his work has focused on the transformation of American cities through the creation of active public spaces. Jim’s work in this area restores connections between disparate sections within cities, providing open space with a purpose through innovative programming initiatives.

Jim has a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University and has been a member of the Louisiana State University Design Circle since 2000.

Meg Calkins, FCELA, FASLA, is a Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at North Carolina State University and holds an MLA and MArch from the University of California at Berkeley. She has taught and written about resilient site design and sustainable construction for twenty-five years. As an LAF Fellow for Leadership and Innovation she advanced a book manuscript with the working title, Details and Materials for Resilient Sites: A Carbon Positive Approach that will be published by Routledge in Spring 2025.

Meg is also the author of Materials for Sustainable Sites and editor of the Sustainable Sites Handbook. She has taken an active leadership role in development and implementation of the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) since 2003. She is pleased to serve on  the LAF Board of Directors to continue her work advancing the profession of Landscape Architecture to meet the challenges of climate change.

Liz Camuti, PLA, ASLA, is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at Tulane University, where she directs the Gulf Coast Climate Futures project, supported by the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program. Her expertise is in visual storytelling and geospatial representation aimed at effectively communicating complex ecological, economic, and social systems to public audiences as part of an engaged design process.

In addition to her work at Tulane, she is a licensed landscape architect and Senior Associate at SMM in New Orleans where she applies nearly a decade of experience in climate adaptation and coastal resilience work to public projects at various scales across the Southern U.S. She previously worked at SCAPE Landscape Architecture, where she played a key role in developing graphic communications strategies for large-scale regional planning projects, including Louisiana's 2023 Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast.

As the graduate 2018 National Olmsted Scholar and a former LAF Innovation + Leadership fellow, Liz is passionate about helping new generations of students make contributions to the field that will shape the future of landscape architecture.

 Kevin Conger, PLA, FASLA, is a Founding Partner of CMG Landscape Architecture. With a focus towards creating democratic public space and improving the social and ecological wellbeing of our cities, he believes greater community awareness and engagement results in better stewardship and more sustainable communities. He was awarded a Seed Fund Fellowship for his commitment to creating more vibrant, democratic public spaces in San Francisco, and contributes considerable volunteer efforts for public space issues.

When Kevin was an undergraduate student, his professor, Gary Dwyer, asked students on the first day of class to write down why they wanted to study landscape architecture. Kevin’s journal entry said: “To make a positive difference in environmental design.” Kevin hopes to help LAF with its work cultivating new leaders in landscape architecture, specifically through the Fellowship and Ignite programs. He also wants to learn from the inspiring people that are involved with LAF.

Gonzalo Cruz, ASLA, is the Design Principal for Metro New York and leads AECOM’s Urbanism + Planning Practice locally as well as strategic collaborations across the Americas and abroad. His award-winning studio portfolio incorporates traditional forms of practice as well as large-scale infrastructure as it is driven by public realm design. Gonzalo’s diverse professional accomplishments are rooted in his interdisciplinary background. In recent years, he has been creating innovative work at the intersection of large-scale infrastructure and placemaking with a focus of coastal resilience design, including South Battery Park City Resilience Wagner Park and Pier A Plaza, Brooklyn Montgomery Coastal Resilience Open Space and Hoboken Cove Waterfront Park to name a few. His practice has received awards from ASLA, AIA, NYC by Design and the Chicago Atheneum Design Excellence Award in Open Space design for World Trade Center’s Liberty Park. Gonzalo holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the City College of New York and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

As one of the founding principals of C+R, Aida Curtis, FASLA, has built a practice over four decades focused on the enrichment of the public realm. Through the range of her experience — from the largest public projects in South Florida to meaningful philanthropic efforts — she leads with a spirit of collaboration centered on design and social equity. She is the only landscape architect appointed to serve on the Climate and Heat Health Task Force of Miami-Dade County and helped to develop its first Extreme Heat Action Plan. Aida convinced the City of Miami to establish an ordinance that requires a landscape architect to be involved in all projects that involve stormwater and encourages all waterfront development to follow the Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines.

On the LAF Board of Directors, she looks forward to collaborating with a diverse group of professionals to advance landscape architecture into a leadership role in addressing climate crisis. As a Hispanic female, she wants landscape architects with diverse backgrounds and voices coming together to answer this urgent call to action.  

As Deputy Chief of Urban Design, Diana Fernandez Bibeau works to elevate the importance of design and champion the transformative power of green, equitable and walkable communities for all. As part of her work, she partners on the Mayor's Green New Deal agenda and various city departments to align urban design efforts into a comprehensive vision for the city. Over the span of over a decade, Diana has worked across private and public sectors to build a design portfolio that reassesses the policies that have perpetuated race, gender, environmental and socioeconomic inequality, and created new design methodologies that can respond to and correct them.

Diana is honored to join the LAF Board of Directors in supporting the advancement of landscape architecture and the power of design to make our world a better place. LAF has profoundly transformed the trajectory of her career and she is honored to serve as a board member.

Jennifer Dowdell, ASLA, is a Practice Leader in Landscape Ecology, Planning and Design, where she merges ecological resilience strategies and environmental justice in design and planning. Her projects include greenways, parks, institutional lands, brownfields, and urban ecological frameworks. She previously worked ASLA, contributing to Landscape Architecture Magazine and Government Affairs. Jennifer has also written for the Wilson Quarterly, PLACES Journal, The Nature of Cities blog; she recently contributed a chapter in The Landscape Approach: From Local Communities to Territorial Systems. She has lectured at Columbia University, Morgan State, University of Michigan, UVA, Temple University, Montana State, University of Maryland, and University of Texas. She’s spent time in the Balkans, Aotearoa- New Zealand, and Australia exploring generational community relationships to rare ecosystems.

As a member of the LAF Board of Directors Jennifer looks forward to cultivating deeper discussions around the biodiversity crisis; holistic and equitable approaches to landscape resilience in response to climate change.

Eric Gilbey, PLA, uses his professional experience as a practicing landscape architect and his experience in CAD and BIM in his role as product marketing manager for the landscape industries at Vectorworks, where he continues to help landscape architects develop best practices, including sustainable site design and site-specific BIM. He is a past president of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, past president and trustee of the Maryland ASLA chapter, and continues to serve as a leader of ASLA’s Digital Technology PPN.

Since learning about the LAF and the Sustainable Sites Initiative in 2010, Eric has pursued technology development to assist and enable better performing landscapes through design and analysis. His employer, Vectorworks, began sponsoring the LAF in 2013 and as a director, he looks forward to providing thought leadership and industry/academic outreach to disseminate the knowledge and resources generated for the betterment of practice and our environment.

Rikerrious Geter, ASLA, LEED Green Associate, is an Associate at SCAPE. His experience working across the west coast conveys his approach to practice – working with and for community. In his work, Rikerrious examines how public space can encourage equitable, healthy, and sustainable communities through active community participation, while maximizing ecosystem health. Rikerrious received his BLA from the University of Georgia. He also serves on the Executive Board of BlackLAN and formerly on the Washington ASLA – SEP Committee, and the Seattle Design Commission. 

Rikerrious believes that an important strategy to increasing awareness of climate change and access to public space in marginalized communities of color is by increasing their voice and participation in the profession. He is excited to help continue the LAF legacy of reducing financial barriers through the LAF scholarship programs and focus on climate resilience.

Rob Gray is a principal at Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects where he leads their Kansas City studio.  He has over 20 years of experience spanning the fields of planning and landscape architecture, including streetscape design, campus and community planning, healthcare, public parks, botanical and zoological gardens and theme parks. Rob has a passion for sustainability and approaches it as a key aspect of the design with innovative solutions that place strong emphasis on both the visibility and performance of sustainable practices in the built environment.

Rob believes the work landscape architects do ensures the future health of our people and planet. As part of the LAF Board of Directors, Rob is excited to advance the discipline while cultivating the next generation of passionate practitioners. 

Ying-yu Hung, FASLA, PLA, is a registered Landscape Architect in California and a Fellow at the American Society of Landscape Architects. She holds a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University, and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Architecture from UC Berkeley. Ms. Hung has over 30 years of experience practicing landscape architecture; she is the recipient of multiple national awards. Currently, Ms. Hung manages the Los Angeles office of SWA – an international landscape, planning and urban design firm with over 60 years of history working on projects in the U.S. and abroad. Ms. Hung relishes working in the public realm. Her deep passion lies in the design of small-scale intimate spaces. As a designer who focuses on serving local communities, her ability to choreograph spaces and materials lead her to create beautiful, timeless environments that are rich in experience as well as sustainable. A strong believer in mentoring the next generation of environmental stewards, Ms. Hung has taught design studios at University of Southern California and at Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, and continues to give lectures at various professional conferences.

Nick Jabs AIA, PLA, ASLA, is a Senior Associate at PORT where his work is focused on the research, conceptualization, design, and implementation of projects in the public realm. A Midwesterner at heart, Nick brings an emphatic and pragmatic approach to designing with communities across the country. His experience as both a registered architect and landscape architect enable him to leverage the knowledge and skills of both disciplines to benefit each project he manages. His work at PORT has helped to transform often obscure, overlooked, or contested places into vibrant public spaces for gathering and community.

While serving on the LAF Board of Directors, Nick is excited to bring forward his multi-disciplinary and varied experiences as an Olmsted Scholar (2018) and LAF Fellow (2019-20), plus his perspective as an emerging professional, to deepen connections between the Board and a new generation of landscape and public realm designers.

Clarence Lacy is a Senior Project Director at RIOS. His experience working in Toronto, the San Francisco Bay area, and Los Angeles works to transform the way we think about cities - using landscape architecture to express inclusively the individuals’ voices to unify, inspire, and enlighten communities. Throughout his career, Clarence has been dedicated to increasing pathways into the profession for BIPOC students, creating equitable access to public space and examining scaled impacts of environmental justice.

On the LAF Board of Directors, Clarence is particularly interested in initiatives that address the growing inequities around climate change and access to nature and quality green space. He is also wants to make the profession more accessible and supportive of Black and Brown students and young professionals.

José de Jesús Leal, ASLA, is a truth-teller, and a Landscape Architect, who considers laughter good medicine. His personal and professional journeys have always been spiritual—guided by the understanding that he is still a student with a deep passion for learning. As Director of MIG's Native Nation Building Studio, his work focuses on the power of co-creation and inclusive community-based design and planning that is culturally sensitive. For José, supporting Native Nation sovereignty and Native community self-determination are critical goals. As a centuries-old practice shaped by culture, José uses landscape architecture to uncover, explore, and reflect hidden truths and stories that can lead to healing, restoration, and a better path forward.

José is humbled to have the privilege to serve on the LAF Board. He is inspired to help LAF find ways to contribute to Native communities’ vitality and wellbeing while supporting positive change for future Native Landscape Architects.

Lauren Leighty, PLA, ASLA, LEED AP BD+C, is a Principal and Campus Studio Leader with SmithGroup. She is a trusted partner to many respected higher education institutions across the country, helping them plan for their futures and address the multi-layered challenges they are facing. Notable clients include top research universities such as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, North Carolina State University, Boston University, Auburn University, and the University of California, Riverside.

As both an urban designer and a landscape architect, Lauren is skilled at working across scales. She artfully translates an institution’s strategic vision, identity, regional context, and physical framework into solutions that are both visionary and achievable. Lauren received her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Master of Urban Design from the University of Michigan. She is a member of SmithGroup’s Board of Directors and the University of Michigan’s Taubman College Alumni Council.

Lauren is incredibly honored to continue the rich legacy of SmithGroup’s (formerly JJR) involvement with LAF.  Lauren was fortunate to be one of the over 700 landscape architects to gather in Philadelphia in 2016 to craft a new vision for landscape architecture for the 21st century – The New Landscape Declaration. Six years later, Lauren is excited to join LAF’s Board of Directors as an opportunity to magnify her own capacity to influence change, and also to work alongside her peers in landscape architecture to translate energy and passion into action.

Jade Paul is a landscape architecture principal for Jacobs.  For over two decades Jade has dedicated her career to design inspired by natural processes, based on the notion that ecology and vibrant people-centered space can thrive simultaneously.  She leads Jacobs’ nature positive strategies for the Americas and has worked with organizations such as the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure and the Urban Land Institute to advance regenerative design and implementation strategies.

Jade is humbled and thrilled to serve on the LAF Board of Directors. She truly believes landscape architects are a key in solving our climate crisis because landscape architects have a deep understanding of how nature can give back, balance, add beauty, and self-repair, simultaneously.

Veronica Rivera is a registered landscape architect and architectural designer at Field Operations in the San Francisco office. Having worked in Puerto Rico, Berlin and New York City, she brings a broad international perspective of culture, ingenuity, and creativity. Veronica is a remarkably creative designer with a notable attention to detail, focusing on the continuity of projects from concept to construction. Veronica’s experience includes Resilient by Design work in South Bay, the Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront and Salisbury Gardens in Hong Kong, Navy Yards Central Green in Philadelphia, and the Presidio Tunnel Tops project in San Francisco.

On the LAF Board of Directors, Veronica looks forward to infusing her creativity, enthusiasm, and range of cultural insights into the organization's mission. She wants to further amplify the reach and impact of landscape architecture, elevating it as both a discipline and a passion.

Richard Roark is a landscape architect and partner at OLIN. Physical and social resilience are the principle drivers in his work, which spans a range of scales and types from planning a climate adaptation plan for New York’s food distribution system, to building a resilience park in Hoboken New Jersey, organizing a community based economy in the Eastern Market of Detroit, and connecting Los Angeles across the 51 miles of the LA River. Richard is committed to bringing communities together in the public realm while ensuring development creates value without displacement, is socially just, and creates opportunities for many.

Trinity Simons Wagner has served as the executive director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) since 2012. In this role, she works with mayors across the country on the nation’s most pressing urban planning and design challenges. She speaks about the intersection of design and politics at universities, events, and symposia across the country.

During MICD sessions and throughout the year, Trinity adds to her deep understanding of mayors’ challenges and needs, forming long-standing relationships with local leaders around the country. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the Institute’s transition to serving mayors in a virtual environment, including the creation of new program offerings, such as Mayors’ Virtual Seminars, MICD Alumni Technical Assistance, and the MICD Just City Mayoral Fellowship (in partnership with the Just City Lab at the Harvard GSD). Under her leadership, in 2021, MICD was awarded the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Founders’ Award, its highest honor for organizations.
 
Trinity believes that in shaping our public realm, landscape architects have the ability to expand conceptions of inclusion, justice, and beauty in our cities. She hopes to use her time on the LAF Board to broaden the influence of landscape architecture.

Gary Sorge, FASLA, AICP, is the Landscape Architecture Practice Lead for global design firm, Stantec.  His 35-year career has been dedicated to advancing a collaborative and systems-based approach to landscape architecture as it intersects with transportation, ecosystem, public realm, and community design.  Leading nearly 300 landscape architects, designers, and technicians, Gary’s breadth of knowledge from ecology to economics yields a richly grounded practice.  Under his leadership, the practice has maintained a longstanding focus on the role of landscape architecture in addressing complex infrastructure renewal and adaptation challenges. 

Gary has led major interdisciplinary projects from planning to implementation.  He is a fellow with the American Society of Landscape Architects and has held numerous elected and appointed civic positions with a focus on conservation, education, preservation, and economic sustainability.  

As an LAF Board member, Gary hopes to help broaden our presence as interdisciplinary leaders, elevate STEM education to best prepare practitioners for the technical environmental challenges facing our communities today, build awareness of and access to the profession, and establish fairness in compensation so that students and emerging professionals can foresee life-long careers in practice.

Sustainability Leader at Landscape Forms, Amy Syverson-Shaffer, ASLA, is a SITES Accredited Professional and TRUE Zero-Waste Advisor who uses her design acumen and deep contextual understanding to implement industry-leading sustainable approaches. Since 2023, she’s served on the ASLA Biodiversity and Climate Action Committee, and prior to joining Landscape Forms, she honed her landscape architecture expertise at leading firms DAVID RUBIN Land Collective and Sikora Wells Appel. She graduated Cum Laude from the Temple University School of Environmental Design with a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture where she also served as an adjunct professor. Amy is driven by connecting people to nature and to one another, drawing on her background in landscape architecture, her passion for great design, and her strength in facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration to implement innovative new strategies to reduce environmental impacts and expertly take on today’s biggest challenges.

Roana Tirado has over 12 years of experience in landscape, open space planning and community engagement in the bay area. Throughout her career, she has donated her time to working with youth and underserved communities to increase access to open space. Roana has been nationally recognized for her service work as well as completing a competitive fellowship with the Piero N. Patri Fellowship in Urban Design where she created a visioning project for the historically underserved community of Bayview Hunters Point in Southeast San Francisco. Roana has been working as a Senior Designer and Project Manager with HOK since 2014, where she continues to pursue her local community engagement work among other project endeavors.

Roana received her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Landscape Architecture and a Master of City Regional Planning from Cornell University.

Jun-Hyun Kim, Ph.D., ASLA, is a professor and program director of the Landscape Architecture Program in the School of Planning, Design & Construction at Michigan State University (MSU). He is also the program director of the Master of Environmental Design (MED) degree. Before joining MSU through a target search, he held positions as an assistant professor at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. Dr. Kim specializes in assessing the impacts of environments on human health and community resiliency, with a focus on both human and ecological health. 

He serves as the 2024-25 President of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA).

SuLin Kotowicz, FASLA, PLA, received her BLA from Ball State University. She is a licensed landscape architect and has more than 20 years of experience in private practice in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is a project manager/Senior Landscape Architect with VIRIDIS Design Group, creating inspirational and accessible public spaces in the built environment. She served as the 2023-24 President of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).