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SPEAKERS

Keynote
Charlotte Katzenmoyer has been the Director of Public Works for the City of Lancaster since May 2001. She graduated from the University of Akron; Akron, Ohio in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and graduated from Lehigh University; Bethlehem, PA in 1991 with Master of Science in Civil/Environmental Engineering. She has been employed with the City of Lancaster with responsibility for approximately 200 employees in the Bureau of Engineering, Operations Bureau which includes Streets, Traffic and Parks, Bureau of Public Facilities, Bureau of Water, Bureau of Wastewater, Bureau of Solid Waste and Recycling and a new Public Art Program. The Water and Wastewater Bureaus serve not only the City proper, but nine municipalities surrounding the City with a population of over 140,000 residents. She is responsible for managing an annual operating budget of $40 million and a capital budget of $50 million.

Danene Sorace, Executive Director of LIVE Green since 2008, has been instrumental in spearheading the development of the City’s green infrastructure plan and its implementation. Following the plan’s adoption earlier this year, LIVE Green has continued to lead community education and outreach efforts –through neighborhood meetings, workshops, door-to-door outreach, rain barrel and native tree distribution and the Save It! Your Money. Your Water. Your City. campaign. Danene has a B.S. from Albright College and Master’s in Public Policy from the Bloustein School at Rutgers University.

Plenary
Marcus de la fleur is a Registered Landscape Architect and owner of the consulting firm de la fleur LLC in Chicago, IL. He received his horticultural degree from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and obtained his Masters in Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield, UK. Marcus has contributed to the design and management of multiple sustainable projects, some of them LEED certified, and has extensive field experience in sustainable technologies through his past work in Germany, Switzerland, and Great Britain. He frequently presents at conferences and seminars on subjects of green technologies and sustainable applications. In 2004, Marcus started to apply a variety of sustainable principles to the landscape at his former residence. He uses this pilot project to demonstrate the applicability, aesthetic opportunities, and cumulative benefits of sustainable landscape treatments at the residential and neighborhood scale.

Concurrent Sessions
Jeanette Ankoma-Sey is a landscape designer and horticultural specialist with AECOM Design+ Planning+ Economics formerly EDAW. Her design sensibility focuses on the creation of sustainable and functional landscapes through the integration of plant strategies and characteristics with ecological processes. As an educator with The George Washington University’s Sustainable Landscape Design Masters Program, Jeanette further integrates her cultural background, passion for plants, productive landscapes and ecology to students within the program. Since 2006, her Edible Landscapes course has sought to intertwine the world of design and plant agricultural qualities into practical knowledge of urban gardening and farms, at the same time re-envisioning productive public spaces and gardens in the Washington, DC metro community. Jeanette’s passion for plants comes from her native upbringing in Ghana and Liberia (West Africa) and was furthered enhanced at Virginia Tech where she received a BS in Horticulture, followed by a Masters in Landscape Architecture at Cornell University with horticulture focus.

Adele Ashkar, ASLA, is Associate Professor and Director of the Landscape Design Program at The George Washington University. Adele earned a BFA in Landscape Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design and a Master of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She practiced at Dan Kiley’s office in Vermont, and at HOK in New York City and Washington, DC. She joined GW as instructor in 1987, and as Program Director in 1997. Adele provides academic and administrative leadership, recruits and mentors all faculty, and advises all students and candidates for admission. She is responsible for new curricular initiatives, including a master’s degree and a Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Landscapes. She guides service learning projects that foster outreach to the community and has initiated creative partnerships with area institutions. Adele is very active in campus efforts towards sustainability, playing design, advisory and curricular roles on university committees and task forces.

Joe Berg, Senior Ecologist and Practice Leader at Biohabitats, Inc. in Baltimore Maryland, is an ecosystems ecologist with more than 30 years experience in the assessment and analysis of natural resources; development, preparation, and implementation of restoration plans; and the range of studies, documentation and permitting experience required to support these efforts. His focus is the restoration of stream, wetland and floodplain functions as a means to deliver ecosystem services to society, increase natural capital, and integrate local community needs with an appreciation of natural resource values.

Tavis Dockwiller is principal Landscape Architect and guiding influence for viridian landscape studio practicing landscape architecture within an ecological framework. Her work consistently wins both industry and government awards and accolades. Her latest accomplishments include the 2011 publication of High Performance Landscape Guidelines 21st Century Park for New York City for which she was one of five primary authors. This document has won widespread acclaim for standing “as a radical act by an enlightened municipality.” Tavis firmly believes that problem solving should be fun; client-consultant teams can make a difference to the world socially and environmentally; and design solutions should be practical and lyrical.

Jennifer Dowdell, Associate ASLA, has been with Biohabitats, Inc. in Baltimore Maryland since 2007. She has focused on regenerative campus master planning initiatives and projects integrating living infrastructure design and planning and landscape ecology. Jennifer received her MLA from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment where she worked in Joan Nassauer’s Landscape Ecology, Perception and Design Lab. The focus of her design work was on landscape ecology, brownfield redevelopment, and conservation planning.

Stuart Echols is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at Penn State. He holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and a Masters in Land Development from Texas A&M University, as well as a Master of Landscape Architecture and a Ph.D. in Environmental Design and Planning from Virginia Tech. He is a registered landscape architect and has practiced in Texas, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. He has taught courses in stormwater management, urban design, land development, environmental site construction methods, design research methods, land-use assessment and design implementation. Stuart currently studies land-based hydrological processes of evapo-transpiration, infiltration and stream flow in order to design new systems for urban development that replicate natural runoff rates, volumes, duration, frequency and quality. His research accomplishments focus on developing, implementing and evaluating better strategies for managing urban runoff as a natural resource. Learn more about his work at www.artfulrainwaterdesign.net.

Jane Fava has her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland. She has worked for the Brandywine Valley Association for the last 17 years. She worked as an environmental instructor for the school programs. In addition, for the past 10 years she has been the Watershed Watch Coordinator, establishing the volunteer water quality monitoring programs and the erosion and sediment control monitoring programs at BVA. Also, she works with 26 municipalities in Chester County to meet their education and outreach requirements in their NPDES permits. Most recently she is the project coordinator for the BVA Red Streams Blue Program which is focused on making water quality improvements on the impaired streams within the Brandywine Creek Watershed. She is the 2007 recipient of the Watershed Stewardship Award from the Chester County Water Resources Authority.

Kelly Gutshall, RLA, ASLA is president of LandStudies, Inc an award winning ecological design / build firm based in Lititz, Lancaster County. Ms Gutshall has over 25 years experience as a registered landscape architect specializing in ecological design and planning. Through LandStudies, she has pioneered the integration of innovative restoration techniques into holistic design approaches ….. saving client’s time and money, in some cases millions of dollars. In recent years, LandStudies has begun taking this approach to a new level by “stacking” the benefits of these natural systems to address water quality compliance issues in Lancaster County and the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Jean Marie Hartman received her Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Connecticut, after first earning her M.S. in Landscape Architecture and B.S. in Botany from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. This complementary blend of experience enables her to bring a unique expertise to her position as Associate Professor in the Landscape Architecture Department of Rutgers University. Dr. Hartman's role in research, teaching, and outreach within the discipline of landscape architecture bridges the gap between ecology and design. Her work generates new scientific understandings of complex ecological systems and indicates the ways in which design, planning and policy can help to protect and restore them.

Rick J. Lewandowski is the director of Mt. Cuba Center in Greenville, Delaware. Rick has been director since 1999 and oversees institutional planning and garden development including, conservation, educational, and research program development for the 590 acre property that became a non-profit institution in January, 2001. Prior to working at Mt. Cuba Center, Rick was on staff with the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania for 16 years, the last 8 years as Director of Horticulture and Curator of the Living Collection. While with the Morris Arboretum, Rick participated in several plant exploration trips to Asia, developed and oversaw horticultural research for the Morris Arboretum, and conducted collaborative research with the pharmaceutical industry among other responsibilities. During the past twelve years Rick has conducted more than 40 field expeditions to document and collect seed of native plants throughout the southeastern U.S., adding nearly 1,200 new accessions to Mt. Cuba Center’s living collection. This field work also supports Mt. Cuba Center’s mission to promote and develop better native plants for garden use. Rick is an active member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA). He currently serves as president of the Red Clay Valley Association, a local watershed protection organization in northern Delaware. Rick received his Bachelor of Science degree in Horticulture from Kansas State University in 1980, a Master’s Degree in Horticulture from the University of Maryland in 1982.

Amanda McClean and Claudio Vazquez are professional photographers by trade, amateur gardeners and native plant enthusiasts during their spare time. After years of frustrating experiences trying to find information on native plants, and purchase them online, they decided to put their experience in visual communication to good use and create their own website. Amanda and Claudio’s brainchild, IzelPlants.com, was founded in 2009 with the dual purpose of creating an online database that is user friendly and informative for amateur and advanced gardeners alike. IzelPlants.com offers a high visibility marketplace for nurseries that might not have the resources to create an advanced database of their own.

Mary Myers, Ph.D., MLA, BSLA, is Chair of the Landscape Architecture and Horticulture Program at Temple University. She also spearheaded and teaches in the new Master of Landscape Architecture program, which is one of five in the country with a concentration in ecological restoration. Dr. Myers currently chairs the national Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board. (LAAB).

Steve Raabe is founder and president of OpinionWorks, an opinion research firm based in Annapolis, MD. With a commercial market research career dating to the mid-1980s, Steve founded OpinionWorks in 2001 to bring the best practices of his industry to measure and foster environmental stewardship practices at the household level, and to promote good public policy. Today, OpinionWorks is working throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the Great Lakes, the Southeast, and the Intermountain West. Steve’s work has expanded to include public health, transportation and smart growth, the arts and innovation, and education. Since 2007, he has been the pollster for The Baltimore Sun, and works for numerous state and local agencies and non-profits that are focused on understanding public attitudes.

Thomas Rainer is a registered landscape architect, teacher, and writer living in Washington, D.C. Thomas is a passionate advocate for an ecologically expressive design aesthetic that does not imitate nature, but interprets it. His planting designs focus on creating a modern expression of the ground plane with a largely native palette of perennials and grasses. Thomas has designed landscapes for the U.S. Capitol grounds, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and The New York Botanical Garden, as well as over 80 gardens from Maine to Florida. Thomas received his Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia, where he studied with native plant guru Darrel Morrison. Thomas has worked for the firm Oehme, van Sweden and Associates and currently works for the firm Rhodeside & Harwell. He has a broad range of experience in project types ranging from intimate residential gardens to expansive estates, rooftop landscapes, botanical gardens, public display gardens, large-scale ecological restorations, and national memorials. Thomas has extensive experience in planting design, including botanical display, perennial design, and native and sustainable planting. His work has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Home + Design, New England Home, Maine Home + Design, and the Hill Rag. In addition to his professional work, Thomas teaches planting design for the George Washington University Landscape Design program and blogs regularly at the site Grounded Design.

Kathryn Reshetiloff has been employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Chesapeake Bay Field Office in Annapolis, MD, for 23 years; the last 12 years as their writer/editor. She was a member of the team that converted a popular native plant guidebook into a searchable online database, NativePlantCenter.net

Claudio Vazquez and Amanda McClean are professional photographers by trade, amateur gardeners and native plant enthusiasts during their spare time. After years of frustrating experiences trying to find information on native plants, and purchase them online, they decided to put their experience in visual communication to good use and create their own website. Amanda and Claudio’s brainchild, IzelPlants.com, was founded in 2009 with the dual purpose of creating an online database that is user friendly and informative for amateur and advanced gardeners alike. IzelPlants.com offers a high visibility marketplace for nurseries that might not have the resources to create an advanced database of their own.

Claudia West, a German native, grew up in a family-owned landscape nursery business which specializes in garden design and perennial, woody and cut flower production. Claudia holds a Master’s of Landscape Architecture & Landscape Planning from the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Previously, Claudia served as a design consultant for Wolfgang Oehme/Carol Oppenheimer: Landscape Architecture, and was employed at Bluemount Nurseries and Sylva Native Nursery. Her extensive background in horticulture, ecology, and environmental restoration delivers a wealth of experience and knowledge, in her current role in sales and as a consultant to North Creek Nurseries.