The Biodiversity Primer: Designing for Net-Positive Biodiversity Impacts - 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Includes a Live Web Event on 04/21/2026 at 1:00 PM (EDT)
-
Register
- Non-member - $55
- Member - Free!
- Student Member - Free!
- Associate Member - Free!
Learn how to address the biodiversity crisis and make a net-positive impact on biodiversity in each landscape architecture project. Leaders of the ASLA Climate & Biodiversity Action Committee Subcommittee on Biodiversity will explain how to use the ASLA Biodiversity Primer, a popular resource that was developed to support the ASLA Climate & Biodiversity Action Plan.
Learning objectives:
- Upon completion, participants will have language and statistics to use in dialogue with clients and collaborators, to frame the important role that the design profession has in addressing the biodiversity crisis.
- Be able to identify the factors that influence the potential for biodiversity net-positive impacts on a site.
- Understand the variety of scales that biodiversity can be applied in planning and design efforts.
Image: ASLA 2022 Professional General Design Honor Award. West Pond: Living Shoreline, Brooklyn and Queens, New York. Dirtworks Landscape Architecture P.C. / Jean Schwarzwalder
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.
Grant L. Thompson, ASLA, PLA, LEED AP
Landscape Architect and Horticulturist
Grant Thompson, ASLA, PhD, PLA, LEED AP, is a landscape architect, horticulturist, and urban soil ecologist with over 15 years of experience. His practice career includes planning and built work in parks and open space, urban design, and college and university markets. His research includes peer-reviewed publications about tree biodiversity, soil microbiomes, and biodiversity-ecosystem function in the built environment. He co-organized the 4th International Urban Tree Diversity Conference in 2022, is the chair-elect of the Board of Directors for Trees Forever (IA, IL, WI), and Iowa Urban Tree Council advisor, and a member of the ASLA Biodiversity and Climate Change Committee.
Christian M. Runge, ASLA
Principal, Landscape Architect
Mithun
Christian was the lead designer for the Louisiana Children’s Museum, working with museum staff and local horticulturists and biologists to design the experiential and ecological landscape. Christian is passionate about designing at the intersection of nature, culture and human health in the public realm. He has worked on parks, education and ecological design projects across the country, from the Mariposa Grove Restoration at Yosemite National Park, to Blakely Elementary School on Bainbridge Island, and the Issaquah Anchor Parks Master Plans. He is currently designing several inclusive and nature-based playgrounds in park and educational landscapes in the Pacific Northwest.