Tapping into Ecological Memory: A Key to Resilient Design - 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW) / 1.0 GBCI SITES-Specific CE

Recorded On: 10/10/2025

Through the lens of ecological memory, emerging approaches blend foundational restoration principles with innovations in landscape form, posing the question: What can we learn from plant competition dynamics, wildlife habitat forms, migration patterns, soil processes, and adaptation processes to respond to today’s biodiversity crisis and create and maintain resilient landscapes? Aligned with SITES v2 credits, this session encourages participants to embrace site-specific responses that promote long-term ecological function and resilience.

Learning objectives:

Learn how biodiversity can be restored and maintained in the public realm using SITES v2-aligned strategies for creative and innovative approaches to landscape restoration, through the lens of ecological memory.
Examine a variety of novel ecosystem restoration techniques and foundational design principles that meet community, biodiversity, and habitat goals while responding to degraded and denuded landscape form and function.
Discover an approach that embraces invasive species as ecological niche indicators of innovation potential, learning “nature hacks” that lead to functional plant communities and foster beneficial ecological memory.
Examine innovations in regenerative soil function and adaptive operations and management of native landscapes and public gardens, as outlined in SITES v2 credits for soil health and sustainable maintenance planning.

The GBCI course ID for this course is 920032554, providing SITES-specific CE hours required to maintain SITES AP credentials. Participants will need to pass the exam at the end of the presentation in order to receive a certificate of completion. Participants will need to self-report CE hours through their credentials account on https://sitesonline.usgbc.org.

Jennifer A. Dowdell, ASLA

Practice Leader: Landscape Ecology, Planning, & Design

Biohabitats Inc.

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.

Tom Smarr

Executive Director

Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens

Tom Smarr has over two decades of experience in horticulture, conservation, botanic gardens, and parks. He has lead horticulture at the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in Boston; the High Line in New York City; and The Parklands of Floyds Fork in Louisville, Kentucky. Past six years he has been the Executive Director of Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens in Devon, PA. Additionally, Tom serves on the Board of the Ecological Landscape Alliance (ELA) and PA Gardens, a public gardens consortium dedicated to amplifying the impact of the state’s public horticulture organizations.

Claudia West, ASLA

Principal

Phyto Studio LLC

Claudia West is a leading voice in the emerging field of ecological planting design. Known for her passionate advocacy of plant-driven design, Claudia is a widely sought out speaker and consultant who applies the technologies of plant systems to bring essential natural functions back into our cities and towns. She has worked on all sides of the green industry—as a designer, a grower, installer, and land manager—grounding her innovative work in pragmatic solutions that address the realities of our urbanizing world. She is the co-author of the critically acclaimed book, Planting in a Post-Wild World.