PRESS RELEASE: ASLA-NY Announces New ASLA Fellows
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
American Society of Landscape Architects, New York
Diane Sferrazza Katz, Executive Director, [email protected]
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AMERICAN SOCIETY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS, NEW YORK (ASLA-NY)
ANNOUNCES 2021 ASLA FELLOW RECIPIENTS
Annual Program Recognizes Excellence in the Practice of Landscape Architecture
New York, New York (June 15, 2021) – The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has announced the 2021 Fellow recipients and we are thrilled to celebrate the elevation of three (3) of our members. Fellowship is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members and recognizes the contributions of these individuals to their profession and society at large based on their works, leadership and management, knowledge, and service. The designation of Fellow is conferred on individuals in recognition of exceptional accomplishments over a sustained period of time. This year’s recipients from the New York Chapter are: Elizabeth J. Kennedy, Principal of Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architect, PLLC; Jamie Maslyn Larson, Principal at Lionheart Places LLC, and Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, City College of New York. ASLA New York Chapter President, Elizabeth Moskalenko comments,
On behalf of ASLA-NY I want to send our utmost congratulations to these three exceptional individuals. As exemplary leaders they have transformed our field of landscape architecture and the world around through their dedicated passion. The New York Chapter is honored as they are elevated to the American Society of Landscape Architects Council of Fellows, Class of 2021.
Meet the New York Chapter ASLA Fellow-elect members:
Elizabeth J. Kennedy, ASLA
Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architect, PLLC, New York City
Nomination for Works
Elizabeth J. Kennedy, ASLAElizabeth Kennedy is an inspirational leader who elevates the profession of landscape architecture by challenging mainstream assumptions and uplifting underrepresented voices. Elizabeth founded and serves as working principal for the longest-operating Black woman-owned landscape architecture firm in the United States, a testament of time and thoughtful dedication in every nuanced detail of her work. She is a creator of quietly evocative landscapes that through form raise the spirit of place and set the stage for future interactions that are inviting and accessible to all. Her interactive and collaborative approach is lasting in her design achievements and her mentorship of the next generation. Among Elizabeth’s award-winning projects are: the Weeksville Heritage Center and Restoration of the Hunterfly Road Houses Landscape, Brooklyn; the African Burial Ground National Monument, Lower Manhattan; Harlem Stage at the Gatehouse Theatre, New York; and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Building 3 Roof Farm, Brooklyn. Elizabeth’s story has inspired a younger generation of BIPOC and women creative professionals, drawing admiration for the way she has leveraged minority- and woman-owned business opportunities to advocate for social change and lend her voice to the allied professions. Her commitment to training and preparing young professionals for practice—particularly young professionals of color—is unmatched.
Jamie Maslyn Larson, ASLA
Lionheart Places LLC, Austin Texas
Nomination for Works
Jamie Maslyn Larson, ASLAJamie Maslyn Larson has devoted her career to demonstrating the transformative power of landscape architecture in shaping cities. With over two decades of influential design roles on complex landscape architectural and master planning projects of various scales around the world, Jamie’s work is globally recognized, is widely published, and has garnered multiple national and state design awards. Her commitment to creating the most innovative, groundbreaking design ideas that tackle today’s critical challenging issues is apparent in her portfolio of work, ranging from designing small urban parks to vision plans that will shape entire cities for decades. Among her most acclaimed efforts are: BQP Brooklyn, NY—a pro-bono project to repurpose outmoded Brooklyn-Queens Expressway into a public park; Governors Island Park and Public Space Project, New York City—thoughtful and innovative designs create a 21st Century precedent for a destination park; Soundscape Park, Miami Beach—a 2.5-acre urban oasis in the cultural and civic heart of Miami Beach adjacent to the New World Center; and Longwood Gardens Master Plan and Main Fountain Garden Revitalization Project, Kennett Square, PA—an adroit balance of history and modernizations. Jamie not only envisions groundbreaking, innovative designs, but has the leadership and political skills to get them built.
Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, ASLA
City College of New York, New York City
Nomination for Knowledge
Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, ASLACatherine Seavitt Nordenson is widely recognized for her advocacy for expanding the influence and scope of the profession through education, research, and scholarship. Her research on design adaptation to sea level rise in urban coastal environments, as well as novel landscape restoration practices, has made a significant impact on the design fields. Structures of Coastal Resilience and Waterproofing New York are examples of her focus on hydrological networks and her development of a cohort of diverse scholars, crossing boundaries between landscape, engineering, architecture, and urban design. Catherine’s focus in both her teaching and practice is on the transdisciplinary integration of public space, policy, and the design of infrastructure. Her many books, essays, and journal publications present her brilliant explorations of political power, environmental activism, and public health, particularly as these intersect with the design of equitable public space. Catherine’s research and publications on coastal resilience have had significant influence on municipal, state, and federal policy makers. As professor and director of the graduate program in landscape architecture at CCNY, she serves as the founding faculty editor of the annual landscape architecture journal PLOT, a nationally awarded journal now in its tenth year of publication. She emphasizes the critical role that landscape architects play in connecting environmental, social, and multispecies justice to equitable public space and celebrates the program’s visionary and activist graduate students.
About the American Society of Landscape Architects, New York Chapter:
The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is the national professional association for landscape architects. Founded in 1899, the association represents over 15,000 members and features 49 professional chapters and 76 student chapters. The New York Chapter, founded in 1914, encompasses the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, and Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Rockland counties. The Society’s mission is to lead in the planning, design and care of both our natural and built environments. While keeping pace with the ever-changing forces of nature and technology, landscape architects increasingly have a profound impact on the way people live, work and play.
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Happy PRIDE Month!
June is LGBTQIA Pride Month
Join ASLA-NY as we celebrate LGBTQIA Pride Month! Stop by this page throughout the month as we add more content. Have suggestions of items to add to our list? Email us at [email protected]. Happy Pride!
Learn:
OLIN Labs: PrideScapes Summer Speaker Series
OLIN Labs is hosting a virtual three-part panel series that coincides with Pride month and invites critical conversations between landscape architects, designers, urban planners, artists, and historic preservationists working on LGBTQ+ discourse and projects related to the increased representation and visibility of LGBTQ+ spaces in the built environment.
Join us June 3rd, 10th, & 17th: For more info and to register, go to: olinlabs.com/pridescapes
ASLA Presents: Who Are We? Queer Voices in Landscape Architecture
Jun 16, 2021 04:00 PM
Join ASLA as three landscape architects discuss the necessity of community, diversity, advocacy, mentorship, sponsorship, love, and humanity in landscape architecture. They will share how their individual queer journeys impact the way they practice landscape architecture and explore how we can individually and collectively create a future full of brave and kind designers. Register HERE
ASLA members have access to on-demand webinars through learn.asla.org. Queer Urbanism and Design: Past, Present, Future is a 1.50 PDH recorded presentation from the 2019 Conference on Landscape Architecture. An interdisciplinary team from the fields of landscape design, planning, and art examines LGBTQ cultural ecologies in New York City to develop Queer Urbanism Design Guidelines. Watch and Learn Here.
Located in Greenwich Village, the Stonewall National Monument is the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to LGBT rights and history. It received its National Monument designation by President Barack Obama on June 24, 2016. Learn about the history and culture of Stonewall National Monument on the National Park Service website.
Watch:
When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City on June 28, 1969, the street erupted into violent protests that lasted for the next six days. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world.
Watch Stonewall Uprising: The Year the Changed America and other featured resources at PBS.org
Read:
The Birthplace of LGBTQ Rights Movement Now a National Monument by Jared Green
Power to the People: Protests and Demonstrations in NYC Parks
Full Spectrum by Zach Mortice, as seen in LAM, June 2018
Engage:
NYC Parks has organized a series of events for LGBTQ Pride Month. Join their Urban Park Rangers and partners and friends in celebrating Pride. See the full list of events here.
Explore parks and historic sites in New York City that commemorate the history and legacy of the LGBTQIA+ movement and community.
See list of parks and historic sites.
Wednesday, June 30, 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. (Eastern)
Join fellow LGBTQIA landscape architects as we come together to close out Pride 2021. A few queer designers will share their stories of using their landscape architecture skills to create spaces that encourage community, individuality, freedom of expression, and even to organize in protest for justice and equality. Then they’ll turn it to the other participants. Come prepared to share your own unique ways you’ve utilized your landscape architecture skills beyond your 9-5. Don’t have a specific example? Come and learn how to engage your local community for a good cause. Bring a beverage, snack, and come ready to engage! Register HERE
Visit:
On February 1, 2020, Governor Cuomo renamed East River State Park in honor of Marsha P Johnson, a transgender woman of color who was a pioneer of the LGBTQ civil rights movement and a prominent figure in the Stonewall Uprising. Marsha P. Johnson State Park is undergoing extensive renovations which will dramatically improve the visitor experience at the park. The park renovations will be complete by summer 2021, but portions of the park remain accessible.
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Stonewall National Monument is located in Christopher Park, in Greenwich Village. Plan a visit to the monument by visiting the National Park Service website.
New York State Announces Pollinator Plan Update
The New York State Departments of Agriculture and Markets, Environmental Conservation (DEC), and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) has announced the 2020 Pollinator Protection Plan Update. The update outlines actions taken since the creation of the Pollinator Protection Plan and provides several recommendations to further the State’s goals to protect its pollinator populations. This includes creating the Cooperative Honey Bee Health Improvement Plan, expanding the NYS Beekeeper Tech Team, increasing pollinator friendly habitats, and continuing critical research on the major stressors to honey bees.
State Agencies’ Role in Best Management Practices and Pollinator Habitats
The Pollinator Protection Plan has helped advance many of the State’s goals to protect its pollinator populations, including developing voluntary best management practices for all pollinator stakeholders and developing habitat enhancement efforts to protect and revive populations of native and managed pollinators. New York State’s agencies, such as DEC, OPRHP, the NYS Department of Transportation, the NYS Thruway Authority, and the NYS Office of General Services, have contributed greatly to enhancing habitats and implementing best management practices for pollinators since 2016. Agencies have conducted pollinator surveys; reduced or altered mowing practices to avoid disruptions to pollinator life cycles, provide late-season forage and aid in wildflower seed dispersal; planted pollinator friendly trees and flowers in landscaping; installed bee boxes in viable areas; implemented 11 critical projects that enhanced native pollinator habitat; and educated the public on the diversity and importance of native pollinators.
The Pollinator Plan Update recommends that all state agencies, including OPRHP, continue to conserve, maintain, and expand pollinator gardens and larger pollinator habitats, emphasizing the use of native plantings.
NYS Tech Team
In response to rising concerns about honey bee declines, the New York State Pollinator Protection Plan included the development and expansion of the NYS Beekeeper Tech Team at Cornell University. The NYS Beekeeper Tech Team works directly with beekeepers to improve honey bee health, reduce colony losses, and increase profitability of the beekeeping industry. To date, the Tech Team has worked with a total of 58 beekeepers who manage 27,094 colonies in New York State. The team has sampled colonies from 138 apiaries across 30 counties to assess the queen status, population strength, brood health, and to collect Varroa, Nosema, and pesticide samples.
The Pollinator Protection Plan Update recommends expanding the Tech Team by increasing its geographic range to enroll beekeepers in unrepresented areas, such as the North Country, Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island. It also recommends the Tech Team program broaden its reach to New York State beekeepers by offering web-based learning tutorials on best management practices.
Integrated Pest Management and Research
Additional future recommendations include targeting Cornell University’s Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM) to develop best management practices for the use of treated seed in crop production and fungicides in specialty crops. In addition, the update recommends replicating Cornell’s on-farm research on pesticide spray practices and pesticide residues (pollen, wax) used on strawberry and apple farms to other New York cropping systems and commodities.
The update also supports additional IPM research on alternative control measures and treatment for the Varroa mite. Varroa mites were identified by the NYS Tech Team as one of the top stressors for honey bees and are a significant predictor of winter colony loss.
Read more here
RELATED: ASLA-NY POSITION PAPER on PROTECTING POLLINATORS
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