As Sustainability Specialist within LPA’s Sustainability + Applied Research (S+AR) Team, Alejandra is focused on process and progress. LPA Design Studios is a multidisciplinary firm that prioritizes an integrated approach to sustainability which allows Alejandra a unique window of opportunity effect change at a project, discipline, and firm-wide level. Her passion for environmentalism fuels her capacity to advocate for solutions that drive decarbonization and consider the triple bottom line: people, planet, prosperity. She serves on ASLA’s National Climate Action Committee and has been collaborating with her committee members to publish educational material focused on decarbonizing design and construction specifications.

Mariana Ricker is passionate about California landscapes and emphasizes the importance of site-specific, sustainable landscape design. She enjoys working in urban settings that engage diverse user groups and activate spaces essential to civic life.

In her work as a landscape architect, Mariana seeks to create memorable experiences, connect people to the environment, and provide elegant solutions to accomplish the project vision. At SWA, she works on a wide range of projects, from community parks to large-scale urban development and planning around the Bay Area and beyond. Mariana is committed to climate action within her project work and professionally. She is a member of the national ULI Sustainable Development Product Council, and currently sits on both national and local ASLA Biodiversity & Climate Action Committees. 

Andrew Wickham is a Project Leader at LPA, a national integrated design firm.  Andrew leads designs at the intersection of built, cultural, and natural systems and is a champion of metric-driven design.  His interest lies in how the blending of built and natural environments can enhance a user’s experience and reinforce values of equity, ecology, and curiosity.  Andrew is a proven thinker and strategist, speaking at numerous conferences about the value of performative landscapes and human experience. He is currently Trustee for California Sierra Chapter of ASLA and co-chair of the Leadership and Communication sub-committee of the national Biodiversity and Climate Action Committee.

Erin Kelly, ASLA, AICP, PLA, is a collaborative leader with expertise prototyping inclusive and cross-sector solutions to urban revitalization. She currently serves as the Director of Sustainability & Innovation for Wayne County (MI).

Erin’s mission is to lead and spur collaborative innovation in planning and design for impact. She seeks to prototype and launch beautiful, data-driven, participatory, and narrative-rich solutions to deep urban challenges that improve the quality of life for people in the cities of today and tomorrow.

Erin lives with her family and too many bicycles on Detroit’s east side.

Mark Kenber is Executive Director of VCMI and has worked for nearly three decades on market-based instruments for environmental protection, with a particular focus on carbon markets. 

His previous roles include positions at Fundación Natura in Ecuador, WWF’s International Climate Change Program, The Climate Group, Mongoose Energy Ltd, and Climate Advisers. He has also served as Climate Change Advisor to the Ecuadorian Government. Mark is a board member of ICVCM, C:C Brighton and Brighton and Hove Energy Services Cooperative.

Stephen Taglieri is the Marketing Director at the National Indian Carbon Coalition (NICC). Working in the carbon and climate space for more than half a decade, Stephen focusses on telling stories of conservation success and creating impact through the empowerment of underrepresented voices.

Outside of NICC, Stephen is the CEO and Creative Director of Kingdom Multimedia, a creative marketing agency that specializes in the development of communications strategy. Through end-to-end content development, collaborating from the design phase to marketing implementation, Stephen has crafted unique climate messaging meeting his clients’ goals. Previously, he has produced documentaries, written articles, and been the lead photographer for organizations such as the Smithsonian Institute, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the American Forest Foundation.

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.

Dr. Christensen earned a master’s degree in landscape architecture and doctorate in disability studies. He is well-known for his research based on understanding disability through a social constructivist perspective as the limiting of opportunities to take part in community life because of physical and social barriers. Keith's research emphasizes inclusive design and planning practices which support participation in community through the removal of environmental barriers to social access, rather than the regulatory aspects of site-specific design.

Jennie worked in the field of childhood development and exceptional learning for nearly fifteen years. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Exceptional Learning from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a master’s certificate in Adaptive & Assistive Technology from the University of Miami, and a Master’s degree in Special Education with a concentration in Early Childhood Education from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Jennie has presented as a guest lecturer at universities and has presented at over 200 regional, state, national, and international conferences and play symposiums on a variety of topics surrounding inclusion, the developmental benefits of play, and aligning evidence-based research to creating high quality outdoor play and learning environments. 

Jennie joined PlayCore in 2008, and serves as the Community Outreach Director within PlayCore’s Center for Outreach, Research and Education to support research with our scholar network, create best practice programs to support play and recreation initiatives, provide continuing education through a variety of professional development events, and assist communities in advocating for environments which support the diverse needs of society. Deeply passionate about inclusive, multigenerational play, Jennie utilizes her expertise and personal experiences as a teacher to positively impact the development of innovative play and recreation destinations that focus on community health and wellness.

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.

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.

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.

Emily graduated in 2018 from Ohio State University and moved to Louisville, Kentucky shortly after to begin her professional career. In the time since she graduated, she has gained experience in residential landscape design, design-build, parks and recreation, greenways and trail planning, commercial design, and urban landscape architecture. She currently works at Gresham Smith in downtown Louisville as a Landscape Architect. Emily took two LARE sections in the previous format and two in the current format, earning her licensure in the spring of 2024.

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.

Evelyn Beaury is a global change ecologist specializing in the biogeography of invasive plants, climate change and land-use change. She received her PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and conducted Postdoctoral research at Princeton University. Evelyn recently started a permanent position as an Assistant Curator at the New York Botanical Garden.

Erik Sechler has worked as Ecological Programs Coordinator for Native Plant Trust for six years. Prior to being at Native Plant Trust, Erik has worked for the Trustees and NY and PA Natural Heritage Programs as a staff ecologist/ecological information specialist and has a MS in Conservation Biology from Antioch NE University.

CeCe Haydock, ASLA, PLA, SITES AP, LEED AP, WEDG, is a licensed New York landscape architect WBE and has practiced in the public as well as the private sector. She is an officer for ASLA’s Sustainable Design & Development Professional Practice Network (PPN), a trustee of the Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay, NY, a member of the International Council of the Preservation Society of Newport County, and a visiting lecturer at the New York Botanical Garden.

Nicholas Pevzner is an assistant professor in landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, and a Faculty Fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at Penn. Nick’s research focuses on energy landscapes, urban ecology, and climate policy. He studies the role of design in infrastructure planning for the clean energy transition, and the impact of energy systems on culturally contested landscapes. His work investigates the impacts of climate policy on physical built environment, on cultural attitudes, and on its implications for spatial justice, while seeking opportunities for design to accelerate decarbonization across sectors.

Yekang Ko is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Oregon and a Senior Scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Specializing in sustainable energy landscapes and climate action planning, she directs the Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Hub at APRU. Co-founder of the Landscape for Humanity Lab, her efforts in environmental justice through design have earned her multiple awards, including the CELA Faculty Excellence Awards in Service Learning (2024) and Research (2020). Ko earned her Ph.D. in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning from UC Berkeley in 2012.

Jasper Hugtenburg is a senior landscape architect and physical geographer with over 20 years of professional experience, currently working as a project leader for H+N+S Landscape Architects in the Netherlands. His work focusses primarily on regional scale sustainable development plans and strategies. Topics include the energy transition, flood and draught protection and nature inclusive design.

Jay, a landscape architect with Coleman Company, has over 20 years of advocacy experience at all levels of government and has been instrumental in advancing public recognition and understanding of the profession with policymakers. Jay will highlight the necessity of educating and advocating to policy makers to protect public health, safety, and welfare through licensure of landscape architects. Jay will share tools and resources and use examples of his own experiences in both Wisconsin and Georgia working with state legislators to defend licensure and fight for the right to practice.

Doug Boyer, an associate principal at EDGE, has led numerous Ohio Chapter advocacy efforts to defend licensure and improve the understanding and profile of the profession within the State. Whether it be meeting with Ohio’s federal and state lawmakers, policy officials at the Ohio Department of Transportation, or regulators at the Ohio Board of Building Standards, Doug will share how he’s successfully carried the message of landscape architects, as licensed design professionals, in order to grow opportunities for landscape architects to lead projects around the state and the nation.

Janene, an attorney and partner with Holland & Knight LLP, works as a lobbyist for the Potomac Chapter of the ASLA. Janene’s wisdom and counsel was crucial to enacting a practice act in the District of Columbia in 2017 and in the Chapter’s recent efforts to eliminate the sales tax on landscape architectural services. Janene will share her insights and guidance on the importance of developing relationships with policy makers at all levels, and on navigating the legislative and regulatory aspects of local government.