Madeline is a former Akronite living in Orlando, Florida. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture degree with a French minor from The Ohio State University in 2010. After the recession, she found her way back to landscape architecture with a position at Nimrod Long & Associates in Birmingham, Alabama. She gained experience in both public and private work then obtained licensure in June 2017. Later that year, Madeline joined Dix.Hite + Partners where her current project focus includes campus, roadway and streetscape design, multi-family developments, residential design, community hardscape and landscape renovations, and exterior building color studies.

Donnie Longenecker is an entrepreneur and educator. His firm, DTC, provides a planning, program and project management services for a wide variety of clients and projects. Donnie also serves as a Lecturer and Continuing Education Coordinator for the University of Georgia College of Environment and Design.

Donnie Longenecker is an entrepreneur and educator. His firm, DTC, provides a planning, program and project management services for a wide variety of clients and projects. Donnie also serves as a Lecturer and Continuing Education Coordinator for the University of Georgia College of Environment and Design.

Yusheng (Sam) Dent is an Associate at SWA Group with interdisciplinary background of architecture and landscape architecture . His expertise empowers him to devise innovative design solutions that integrate built and natural environments. Sam is a strong advocate for sustainability as the linchpin for the next generation of design. In his view, design must rise to meet pressing challenges such as climate change, population growth, and social justice. "Pride x ASLA" is an initiative he volunteers to elevate awareness of LGBTQ+ issues within the landscape architecture practice.

Cleve Jones is an American human rights activist, author and lecturer. Jones joined the gay liberation movement in the early 1970s. He was mentored by pioneer LGBT activist Harvey Milk and worked in Milk’s City Hall office as a student intern until Milk’s assassination in 1978. Jones co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in 1983 and founded The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, one of the world’s largest community arts projects, in 1987. HarperCollins published his first book, “Stitching a Revolution,” in 2000. Hachette Book Group published his new memoir, When We Rise: My Life in the Movement, in November 2016

Chad Lord serves as a Senior Director for climate and environmental policy, where he leads a team focused on NPCA’s climate, energy, air and water advocacy. Chad has 27 years of government affairs experience building campaigns and advocating on diverse issues. Before joining NPCA, he worked for Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) as a legislative assistant. Chad also worked for AIDS Action Council and the Human Rights Campaign. He was raised near Pipestone National Monument and now lives with his husband and 10-year-old daughter in Washington, D.C.

Thomas J. Nieman, PhD, PLA, FASLA, is Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture at the University of Kentucky where he taught for 39 years. He is a practicing landscape architect specializing in the design and layout of thoroughbred horse farms. He has taught and continues to present Landscape Architecture licensure review sessions at the ASLA Annual Meetings, LABash, and numerous state chapters. Licensure of all landscape architecture graduates is his mission for the profession.

Jeff Holzer is a licensed Landscape Architect in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is a Certified Playground Safety Inspector for Kimley-Horn and Associates. Jeff has 7 years of experience with a practice in active and passive parks, playgrounds, streetscapes, school/universities, and athletic fields. As Kimley-Horn's only CPSI, Jeff has advised on over 70 playgrounds across 19 states. Jeff volunteers on the LARE Prep committee for ASLA, and the REC TALK committee for the National Recreation and Park Association. In 2020, Jeff won the ANOVA sponsored napkin sketch design competition with a sketch and essay entitled Inclusive Playgrounds for All.

Shawn assists with the compilation and transmission of Council Records; evaluation of Council Records for CLARB Certification; and answers questions about the L.A.R.E. administration and eligibility.

Amy Syverson-Shaffer is passionate about connecting people to nature and to each other. Her past work as a landscape architect and in business development frames her collaborative approach to taking on big challenges. Today, she is lending her design acumen and contextual understanding to leading sustainability for the modern craft manufacturer, Landscape Forms. Since 2023, she’s served on the ASLA Biodiversity and Climate Action Committee, working to bridge between key efforts by Landscape Architects and their industry partner community. On any given day, you'll most likely find her working in the garden.

Meg Calkins, FASLA, SITES AP, is a Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at North Carolina State University. Meg’s scholarship focuses on the environmental and human health impacts of site construction details and materials. She is the author of the book "Materials for Sustainable Sites" and editor of the "Sustainable Sites Handbook". She is currently writing a book with the working title of "Details and Material for Resilient Sites: A Carbon Positive Approach" (Routledge 2025). Meg has taken an active leadership role in development and implementation of the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) since 2003.

Sasha Anemone is a Senior Designer with SALT Landscape Architects, a Los Angeles based firm with a focus on local work, affording opportunities to develop nuanced regional design processes with practices and aesthetics rooted in community engagement. She seeks to create place-based design interventions that support social justice and climate equity. She is particularly passionate about increasing awareness of the climate impacts of landscape architecture, and developing tools for practitioners to evaluate and mitigate these harms. She serves on ASLA's National Climate Action Committee and has led decarbonization efforts at SALT.

As a landscape architect and urban designer at Field Operations, Megan specializes in leading multi-disciplinary teams and collaborating with diverse stakeholder groups to realize visionary public realm projects across the country. During her nearly 15 years with the firm, Megan has managed many of Field Operations’ best-known and most celebrated projects, including the High Line, Waterfront Seattle, the Reimagine Middle Branch Plan, and the Presidio Tunnel Tops.

Megan earned her Master of Landscape Architecture and Master of Architecture degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was awarded the prestigious Ian L. McHarg Prize for Excellence in Ecological Design.

Nate helps lead the landscape architecture practice at RIOS with a focus on immersive environments for art, culture, and hospitality. His interest in landscape design as a form of storytelling drew him to Los Angeles in 2015 after two decades of practice in Seattle and a Masters in Landscape Architecture from Harvard. Nate’s current research interests center on landscape strategies for wellbeing and on contemporary applications of Picturesque aesthetics to inspire curiosity. Recent project work includes Palm Springs Downtown Park, Tulsa's Philbrook Museum of Art & Gardens, Denver's Skyline Park, Boulder Civic Area, and the 1 Hotel West Hollywood.

Cindy is Toole Design’s national Urban Design Practice Leader and has focused her career at the intersection of transportation and the built environment. She blends a background in organizational management with years of experience in planning and landscape architecture, equipping her to drive project success from both design and policy perspectives. Her project experience ranges from complex streetscape and urban design projects to large statewide and national initiatives centered on improving experience in our transportation system. Cindy is a dynamic speaker and facilitator often leading trainings for organizations like Smart Growth America and the Mayors Institute on City Design.

Pamela Conrad is an internationally recognized landscape architect and climate advocate. She is a senior fellow with Architecture 2030, and a 2023 Loeb Fellow and Faculty Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She founded Climate Positive Design to enable climate action by providing guidance and an app to support design teams in drawing down carbon while creating environmental, social, cultural, and economic co-benefits. She is a farm girl from Missouri, inspired by the richness and ingenuity of nature.

Sarah is passionate about leveraging landscape design to better address the climate crisis, and advocates for the necessity of landscape architects’ voices in shaping environmental policies, Her research and project work foregrounds embodied carbon, low-impact development (LID), and sustainable design solutions that are sensitive to their ecological and social contexts. She is an active volunteer with ASLA and was a co-author of the recent ASLA Climate Action Plan.