Maria Landoni is a licensed landscape architect with over fifteen years of experience, including extensive work in the fields of urban design, horticulture and planning. She brings a unique, culturally informed aesthetic, having grown up and studied in both The Patagonia and Buenos Aires, Argentina, and having lived and worked in the U.S. for over 20 years. Maria is driven to resolve complex design challenges without losing sight of the social and physical milieu in which a landscape resides. Maria has led numerous prominent projects ranging from civic and tech campuses and botanical gardens to urban gardens and pastoral landscapes.

Kelly D. Norris is one of the leading ecological horticulturists of his generation. In his practice, he explores the narrative of place through site-specific plantings and landscape interventions. An award-winning author and plantsman, Kelly’s work in gardens has been featured in The New York Times, Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart Living, Fine Gardening, Garden Design, and numerous television, radio, and digital media appearances. His latest book is Your Natural Garden from Cool Springs Press.

Dawn Dyer is a landscape architect committed to delivering projects with exceptional design and innovative use of construction methods and technologies. She has a passion for urban infill and brings a strong commitment to sustainability, addressing environmental issues through multi-purposed design solutions that are both functional and elegant. Trained both as an architect and landscape architect, Dawn weaves these two disciplines together creating experiential and sensory rich spaces. She has over 20 years of experience creating transformational spaces. Dawn was integral to the design team of the Nature Gardens at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum and John Anson Ford Theatres renovation project. She is currently working on the Broadway Trade Center adaptive re-use project and First and Broadway Civic Center Park, both in Downtown Los Angeles. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and her Master of Landscape Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design. Dawn is based in our Los Angeles studio.

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.

Josiah Cain is a landscape architect, systems thinker and transdisciplinary design maverick who has been at the leading edge of regenerative design for more than three decades. He holds design certificates in Permaculture, Green Roofs, Rain Harvesting, and Constructed Wetland Treatment Systems in addition to his formal training. His work has been featured in publications like Martha Stewart Living, HGTV, the Wall Street Journal and NY. All Species Wellness: His talk will move beyond human wellbeing and explore what wellness means across species.

Megan Horn is a Principal at Studio-MLA with extensive experience in all phases of landscape architecture, focusing on transforming urban systems into connected, ecological, and inclusive public spaces. Her leadership spans projects including Puente Hills Regional Park, Eaton Canyon Natural Area, Compton Creek Trail, the SGV Greenway Network Plan, and NHM Commons. Megan’s work bridges design, equity, and ecology across Los Angeles. She serves as President of the Association for Women in Architecture Foundation that awards scholarships to California-based design students and co-founded Table for Ten, a platform advancing business development and leadership for women in the A/E design professions.

Mr. Hunter Merritt is a lecturer with California State University Sacramento, and a Social Scientist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As a former public affairs specialist and flood planner, Merritt brings enthusiasm and expertise in building and employing Serious Games for water resources problem solving, as well as 30+ years of experience in facilitation and conflict resolution.

Sara has a passion for to celebrating and preserving the beauty of the West through thoughtful solutions that balance the needs of our delicate and nuanced landscapes with social, aesthetic, functional, and economic considerations. Sara founded Connect One Design in 2009 with Gyles Thornely, and has worked tirelessly to create and implement the practices that have made Connect One Design a successful team. Sara’s volunteer experience includes local alternative transportation commissions and volunteering with local adult ESL programs.

Susannah Ross, ASLA, Director at Agency Landscape + Planning, has spent over two decades managing complex urban and waterfront landscape design and construction. She is passionate about the design of public open spaces in urban settings. She enjoys exploring the potential of landscape design to enrich the daily life, health and well-being of both city dwellers and urban ecology, as well as to shape the core identity of a city. She welcomes the challenge of designing to meet the needs of a diverse set of interests in a complex physical context.

Maura is a landscape architect, co-founder, and principal of TEN x TEN. With a background in printmaking and sculpture, Maura balances a rigorous approach to leadership, project implementation, and design excellence with a conceptual sensibility rooted in process. Recognized as a national leader of design process innovation, adaptive reuse, and culturally significant landscapes, her projects have received national awards for design excellence, sustainability, and preservation. In 2015 she co-founded TEN x TEN to build a practice committed to horizontal co-authorship, radical transparency, and curiosity.

Meg Calkins, FASLA, FCELA, is a Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at NC State University. She has taught and written about resilient site design and construction for 27 years. Her current book is Details and Materials for Resilient Sites: A Climate Positive Approach (Routledge 2025). She is the author of Materials for Sustainable Sites (2008) and editor of the Sustainable Sites Handbook (2012). Meg has taken an active leadership role in development and implementation of SITES since 2003, and has served on the ASLA Climate and Biodiversity Committee since 2023. She currently serves on the LAF Board.

Andrew is a Project Leader at LPA, a national integrated design firm. He 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 Trustee for Sierra Chapter and co-chair of the Leadership and Communication sub-committee of the Biodiversity and Climate Action Committee.

Diane Jones Allen, D. Eng., PLA, FASLA, is Director/Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Texas at Arlington, and Principal Landscape Architect with DesignJones LLC, which received the 2016 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Community Service Award. Diane is part of one of a cross disciplinary team, that won the 2020 Skidmore Owens and Merrill (SOM Foundation Research Prize, which examined social justice in urban contexts. She was a 2021-2022 fellow for Garden and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, where she researched Maroons in coastal Louisiana. She currently serves on the 2025 ASLA’s Climate Task Force.

Mariana emphasizes the importance of place-based, sustainable design. She enjoys working in urban settings that engage diverse user groups and activate spaces essential to civic life. In her work as a licensed landscape architect, Mariana seeks to create a vibrant public realm, connect people to the environment, and develop strategies to accomplish the project vision. At SWA, she leads a wide range of projects, from community parks to district-scale urban development and planning around the Bay Area and beyond. Mariana is committed to climate action and advancing sustainability efforts within her project work, at a firm-wide level, and professionally.

For over 20 years Jennifer has worked at the interface of ecology, landscape architecture, & conservation planning, leading projects ranging from regional greenways to state and national parks, institutional and educational campuses, and citywide ecological networks merging landscape ecology, climate resilience, and equity strategies with regenerative design. Her practice engages principles of systems-ecology, resilience, biodiversity, and environmental justice, facilitating dialogue and socio-ecological narratives that engage nature in design. Jennifer has published pieces in Landscape Architecture Magazine, PLACES Journal, theEarthIssue#4, The Nature of Cities, and contributed to the book, The Landscape Approach: From Local Communities to Territorial Systems.

Emily is an Associate Professor of Practice at North Carolina State University and Principal at Design Workshop. 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. She serves as the VP of Research and on the Board of Directors for LAF, on the NC A&T University’s Landscape Architecture Advisory Board and the Board of Trustees for the Design Workshop Foundation.

Malcolm’s civic, cultural, and academic work is shaped by an inclusive community engagement process that allows multi-faceted stories to become significant elements for both design and economic development. He encourages diverse project teams, believing multiple perspectives contribute to more thoughtful, innovative solutions that lead to active hubs for individual, community, and commercial growth. Malcolm’s work includes transformational, community-driven projects, including Destination Crenshaw, a 1.3 mile-long art and culture experience in South LA and Brooklyn Village Development, a mixed-use project actively renewing Second Ward in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Burt Pinnock’s passion for design has created award-winning work time and time again, from historic sites and cultural institutions to forward-thinking companies and foundations. He previously served as Chair of the Commonwealth of Virginia Art & Architectural Review Board and Vice Chair of the Richmond 300 Advisory Board, and is a co-founder of Storefront for Community Design, amongst many other notable board and committee engagements. For Burt, architecture isn’t a job; it’s his personal contribution to the wellbeing and vitality of our communities.

Thomas Rainer is a leading voice in ecological landscape design and a registered landscape architect based in Arlington, Virginia. As co-founder of Phyto Studio, he creates innovative, plant-driven landscapes for public and private spaces, with notable work at the Arboretum at Penn State, Toronto Botanical Garden, and over 125 residential gardens. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Landscape Architecture Magazine, and Architectural Digest. A former instructor at George Washington University, Thomas teaches internationally and is co-author of the influential book Planting in a Post-Wild World, which explores the future of ecological planting design.

Ruth is a Partner at SiteWorks experienced in design and maintenance across green infrastructure, rooftops, mixed-use, institutional, park, eco-restoration, and high-end residential projects. Before attending landscape architecture school, she spent two years as a private gardener and horticulturalist and also served for two years as a sustainable agricultural extension agent with the Peace Corps in Senegal. Since 2017, Ruth has taught as an adjunct instructor at the City College of New York’s Spitzer School of Architecture and at The Parsons School of Design.

I am a fourth-generation Horticulturalist who has sourced plant material for 45 years in public and private spaces. I began my career in 1980 at my family's Nursery brokerage company on Long Island, New York which was the first of its kind in the US. I joined the Kelco Construction plant procurement team in 2016 and we have supplied plant material for many prestigious projects throughout the New York metropolitan area. I also consider myself a horticultural diplomat, always trying to bring together the Landscape Architect, Landscape Contractor and Nursery industry into an effective collaboration.

Melissa earned her BS in University Studies - Architecture from Texas A&M University in 2017 and her Master in Landscape Architecture from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2021. Her past learning experiences influenced her thesis research in phytoremediation. Since joining DesignJones in 2023, Melissa has worked on a variety of projects which have focused on stormwater management, scientific & historic education, shared community spaces, and preservation. She has gotten the opportunity to be part of many of DesignJones’ New Orleans projects, such as the Claiborne Cultural Innovation District.

Whawn founded Whawn Allen Architects and Construction Consultants (WAACC), a design and project management company in 2017. She is a registered architect and certified construction manager who enjoys solving challenging problems, playing tennis and experiencing new cultures. Her appreciation for community inspired her to established WAACC, a company focused on rebuilding communities in historically suppressed neighborhoods. She has served as guest lecturer for the University of New Orleans Community Development Finance Course and is a graduate of Goldman Sachs 10K Small Businesses Cohort 30. She has served as guest lecturer for the University of New Orleans Community Development Finance Course.

New York native Nyree A. Ramsey is the Executive Director of Ujamaa Economic Development Corporation. Ramsey holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Ramsey’s passion for servant leadership led her to Tremé in New Orleans, serving as the City of New Orleans as Deputy Director of Community Affairs & Special Events; then promoted to Director of Arts and Tourism in the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development. As the city’s first Black Director of Arts & Tourism, her work centers promoting, protecting, and perpetuating the unique aesthetic of an American treasure, New Orleans’ art & culture.

Based in Design Workshop’s Aspen Studio, Josh is a landscape architect and project manager who primarily focuses on residential and resort developments with a strong technical emphasis. He is a recent graduate of Louisiana State University’s Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, and enjoys assisting with recruiting, internships, new-hire development programs, and office health and wellness initiatives.

Christine Ten Eyck, FASLA, is the founder of Ten Eyck Landscape Architects in Austin, Texas. Since the inception of her company 28 years ago, Christine and her thirteen-person firm have drawn upon intuition, experience, and knowledge to build a body of work which celebrates the inherent beauty and culture of Texas and the southwest, pioneering contemporary regionalism in the southwest. Her projects range from urban design, parks, botanical gardens, university campuses to private residential gardens and ranches. She received her BLA from Texas Tech University and was made a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2003.

Entering her final year of pursuing her bachelor's in landscape architecture at Oklahoma State University, Chloe is an aspiring designer with a strong passion for all aspects of the field, particularly in integrating ecological systems with community-centric design. She is dedicated to creating sustainable, inclusive spaces that foster a deeper connection between the environment and the community. As past president of the OSU Student Chapter of ASLA, she enjoyed bringing awareness to the field and encouraging other students to get involved.

Richard Roark, Partner and Chief Purpose Officer at OLIN, embeds sustainability and environmental justice into his design practice. His work ranges from community projects to large-scale initiatives like the Los Angeles River Master Plan. Roark's approach emphasizes public enrichment, ecological balance, and has earned accolades including the ASLA/IFLA Global Impact Award and the ASLA Urban Design Award of Excellence. His innovative research projects, such as the Circular Soil initiative, have received EPA grants and ASLA honors. Roark's contributions to rewilding and urban resilience demonstrate his commitment to creating spaces that foster community well-being and environmental sustainability.

Michael is a principal at Sasaki, where he leads much of the firm’s international work. He is a fierce advocate for the vital role that landscape architects play in shaping contemporary cities and believes that the role of the designer is to make places more livable, equitable, resilient, and just. Michael is a graduate of Cornell University, a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and serves as Past President of the Landscape Architecture Foundation. His work has been recognized with numerous awards and he is an avid teacher and mentor, speaking at conferences and universities around the world.

Carlos Claussell Velez leads the Community Benefits and Social Impact strategy for the World Wildlife Fund, focusing on aligning climate action with benefits for local and disadvantaged communities. Carlos Chairs PennFuture Board, Pennsylvania’s environmental watchdog, serves as Board Member for the Center for Progressive Reform, a legal scholars-led national nonprofit advocating for a responsive government. Carlos is the former Vice-Chair of the City of Philadelphia’s Environmental Justice Advisory Commission, Climate Justice Design Fellow from Harvard University, CELI Fellow and an ELP Senior Fellow. Other roles include SPO for the Institute for Sustainable Communities, Urban Conservation Manager for The Nature Conservancy.