Speakers

Matt Alcide, Affiliate ASLA

Owner/Editor
Land8: Landscape Architects Network

Matt Alcide, Affiliate ASLA is the owner and editor of Land8: Landscape Architects Network, a popular online resource for landscape architects. He has been in business development for over ten years, working for various businesses and nonprofits, including the Landscape Architecture Foundation and Anova Furnishings, and serves as an advisor for the LABash Conference for students in landscape architecture. Matt is also the owner of Division 32, representing various manufacturers to the landscape architecture community as well as providing custom design and fabrication services.

Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR

President/CEO/Founder
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF)

Birnbaum is president, CEO, and founder of The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF). Prior, Birnbaum spent 15 years as coordinator of the NPS Historic Landscape Initiative and a decade in private practice in NYC. He has written/edited dozens of publications. He is an ASLA Fellow (1996), a Loeb Fellow at Harvard’s GSD, (1997-98) and Rome Prize recipient (2004). He served as Glimcher Professor at Ohio State (2008), a Visiting Professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning + Preservation (2012-16) and most recently served as a lecturer in Landscape Architecture at the GSD in 2020. ASLA awarded him the LaGasse Medal (2008), the President’s Medal (2009) and the ASLA Medal (2017). He was a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post.

Roxanne Blackwell, Esq., Hon. ASLA

Director of Federal Government Affairs
American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)

Roxanne Blackwell, Esq., Hon. ASLA serves as the Director of Federal Government Affairs for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), where she directs all federal government affairs programs and represents ASLA before Congress, and federal agencies. Roxanne came to ASLA with several years of legislative experience serving in senior level positions on Capitol Hill. She has extensive legislative experience working on transportation, water, and natural resources issues, and has achieved numerous legislative and regulatory victories on behalf of ASLA. Roxanne received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Howard University and her Juris Doctor from the Howard University School of Law. She is admitted to the Maryland Bar and is a certified mediator

Richard Buckley

Department of Pathology and Plant Science
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Richard Buckley received his BS in Entomology and Plant Pathology from the University of Delaware and an MS in Turfgrass Pathology from Rutgers University. Mr. Buckley’s primary responsibility is as a plant problem solver. In his 30-year career, he has evaluated over 60,000 plant samples requiring disease and insect pest diagnosis. Mr. Buckley is an instructor in the Professional Golf Turf Management School and in the Department of Pathology and Plant Science at Rutgers University. He teaches courses in diseases and insect pests of turfgrass and ornamental plants. He is also an acclaimed lecturer and invited speaker on disease and insect pest problems in turf and ornamentals, plant problem solving and diagnostics, pesticides and pesticide use, and integrated pest management techniques

Philippe Chiambaretta

Architect and Founder
PCA-STREAM

After a scientific and economic training at the École des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris and at MIT in Boston, and an experience in strategic consulting at Booz Allen Hamilton, Philippe Chiambaretta directed for nine years the international activities of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura in Paris. Graduated from the National School of Architecture Paris Belleville in 2000, he created PCA STREAM, a research and architectural creation agency characterized by the synergy between thinking and doing. Resolutely focused on innovation, the city of tomorrow and new uses, the agency now has a multidisciplinary team of 90 employees with varied profiles (architects, urban planners, designers, engineers, researchers, publishers …) capable of understanding and responding to the increasingly complex issues of the contemporary world.

Barbara Bell Coleman

President
BBC Associates 

Barbara Bell Coleman is President of BBC Associates and an advocate for disenfranchised people, especially children. Barbara’s experience in the social and public health sectors include stints as president of Amelior Foundation and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newark. She also oversaw alcohol and drug abuse prevention services at the New Jersey State Department of Health through community organizing in 130 municipalities statewide. She is currently the board chair of the Schumann Fund of New Jersey, a co-founder and executive board member of the Branch Brook Park Alliance, and a newly elected Dodge Foundation trustee.

Nette Compton, RLA, ASLA

President & CEO
Mill River Park Collaborative

Nette Compton is the President & CEO of Mill River Park Collaborative, a world-class urban park in the heart of Stamford that serves as both an oasis in city life and a vibrant, diverse, green-space that inspires sound environmental practices and learning. She took over the helm of the organization at the start of 2022, after 8 years with The Trust for Public Land. In her previous role, she oversaw the creation and implementation of multiple strategic plans, built programs in creative placemaking, climate and community health, and informed the organization’s work on equity. She is a licensed landscape architect with a masters degree from Cornell University in urban horticulture and deep experience in public parks, green infrastructure, and organizational management.

Bill Corrigan

Gingko Sustainability Inc.

Mr. Corrigan has 20 years of experience in the roofing industry. His assignments have included diverse areas including sales, diagnostic procedures, program management, training, influencing public policy and evaluation of new technologies. Mr. Corrigan has been an active member of many building industry associations throughout his career, including Green Roofs for Healthy Cities and served as Treasurer from 2015-2017. He has presented seminars on roof asset management, warranty myths/realities and vegetated roofing; and has been enthusiastically advocating for sustainable building initiatives since 2002. As a member of the Project Team at Ginkgo Sustainability, Bill facilitates the installation of green roof systems on institutional and commercial projects in Ontario.

Paul Cureton, P.E.

Oldcastle APG-North America

Paul Cureton is the Manager of Paver Design Services for Oldcastle APG-North America. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and a licensed Professional Engineer in Illinois. Prior to coming to work for Oldcastle he was a consulting civil engineer for 20 years focusing on stormwater management and sustainability. Paul has extensive experience designing permeable pavements with over two (2) million square feet of projects installed.

Anette Freytag

Professor
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Dr. Anette Freytag is an award-winning scholar, educator, and critic. Her research focuses on 19th- and 20th-century landscape architecture. Her quest is to bridge the gap between landscape history and contemporary practice. Before joining Rutgers in 2016, she taught at several European Universities. Her latest book “The Landscapes of Dieter Kienast” (Zurich: gta 2021) is available through the University of Chicago Press. It is the first comprehensive critique of this key figure in European landscape architecture. Her current research within the AIR Collaborative (Arts Integration into Research) focuses on walking as a means of changing an environment and includes activistic projects.

Hanaa Hamdi, Ph.D

Director, Health Impact Investment Strategies
NJ Community Capital

Hanaa Hamdi, Ph.D., Director, Health Impact Investment Strategies at NJ Community Capital, directs the development of NJCC’s emerging community health investment and development strategies to support the organization’s holistic approach to neighborhood revitalization.
With more than two decades of public health research and practice, Dr. Hamdi has dedicated her career to advancing health equity for Black, Brown, and other people of color. She holds a joint- doctoral degree in Public Health and Design of Urban Environments from Rutgers University and NJ Institute of Technology, College of Architecture. Her work examines the interaction of community design, neighborhood features and population health.

Faye Harwell, FASLA

Director/Co-Founder
Rhodeside Harwell Landscape Architecture

 Faye Harwell is director and co-founder of Rhodeside Harwell Landscape Architecture. A Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, she has designed prominent landscapes throughout the United States, Canada, and overseas, earning more than 30 awards for excellence in landscape architecture. Faye is renowned for her expertise in the documentation and restoration of historic landscapes, including many noted parks and sites of national significance. Her work also reflects innovative concepts in ecological design and demonstrates that the protection of historic landscapes and cultural resources is completely compatible with design for resiliency and the creation of vibrant, modern places for people. Faye’s work also includes a body of significant contemporary public and private landscapes, including the National Aquarium in Baltimore, multiple gardens at the US National Arboretum and new barrier beach landscapes at Jones Beach State Park in New York. Current works in progress include new landscapes for US Embassies in Milan, Italy; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Bangkok, Thailand. A re-imagined garden for the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, working with internationally.

John Hasse, Ph.D. AICP

Director, Geospatial Research Laboratory
Department of Geography, Planning & Sustainability
Rowan University

John Hasse, Ph.D., AICP is a professor of geography and Director of the Geospatial Research Lab in the Department of Geography, Planning & Sustainability at Rowan University. Mr. Hasse’s research interest focuses on land use geography and the interface of land use, environmental planning, and spatial analysis. Mr. Hasse spearheaded the NJ MAP project, an award-winning online open-source interactive atlas of New Jersey’s environment. NJ MAP includes the NJ Conservation Blueprint, an innovative platform for facilitating state, non-profit, municipal, and professional stakeholders to work towards a collaborative future vision of open space protection, farmland preservation and ecological integrity.

Christopher Ingui

Research and Teaching Assistant
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Christopher Ingui is a Master of Landscape Architecture Candidate at Rutgers University, where he serves as both research and teaching assistant. Chris is a professional trail builder, construction manager and designer with over 13 years of experience improving access to public parks and historic sites around the country. In 2010, he founded the non-profit organization Jolly Rovers Trail Crew Inc., where he served as it’s Executive Director and Construction Administrator for 10 years before continuing his education at Rutgers to pursue a career in landscape architecture.

Vincent Javet

Instructor of Digital Design, Visualization & Fabrication
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Vincent Javet is a Swiss-Canadian designer, researcher and educator. Trained as a landscape architect and urban planner, he is committed to studying environmental performance and developing innovative design and visualization methods for dynamic landscapes through both his design and research work.
He has practiced in Canada, Europe, and the United States with renowned offices such as Unknown Studio, West 8, and North Design Office. In addition to his international design experience, Vincent has held research positions with Platform for Resilient Urbanism, the Green Roof Information Testing Laboratory (GRIT Lab) at the University of Toronto, and Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. His work has been published in Ground Magazine, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Living Architecture Monitor, SimAUD, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s studio publication, Frontier City, among others.

William Kastning, AICP

Executive Director
Monmouth Conservation Foundation

Bill Kastning is Monmouth Conservation Foundation’s executive director leading a countywide land trust whose mission is creating parks, saving open space, preserving farmland, teaching environmental sustainability, safeguarding waterways, and protecting wildlife. Previously, he was a project manager with the New Jersey Green Acres Program supporting local governments and nonprofits performing open space preservation. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. He and his wife enjoy the outdoors and spend time maintaining their property’s extensive natural habitat.

Dr. Noel Kingsbury 

Writer/Lecturer
Garden Masterclass

Noel Kingsbury is best known as a writer and lecturer, promoting an ecological or naturalistic approach to planting design. He works as a design consultant for landscape companies, local government, and private garden owners. He has written some 25 books on various aspects of plants and gardens, 4 in collaboration with the acclaimed Dutch designer and plantsman Piet Oudolf. Noel has contributed to a wide variety of magazines. He now runs Garden Masterclass, a largely online learning resource for garden and landscape professionals.

 

Lanie McKinnon, PLA

Senior Associate
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects

Lanie received her Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007 and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Her profession experience spans across scales with technical proficiency both at-grade and on-structure. She has led the design and management of a range of projects from urban design and planning to campus master plans, plazas, and gardens. With a keen interest in the public realm, she has served as the primary liaison on multi-disciplinary design teams and works closely with clients to realize their project programmatic goals through engaging design.

Before joining Nelson Byrd Woltz in 2016, Lanie worked as a senior associate at SCAPE Landscape Architecture for nine years. Previous work includes the award-winning Blake Hobbs Play-za in New York NY, the East Harlem Center for Living and Learning, and the Blue Wall Environmental Center near Greenville SC. With NBW, Lanie is currently leading the design and management of a range of projects, including construction administration for the implementation of the Rothko Chapel Master Plan in Houston and the development of the Sunnyside Yard Master Plan in Queens. She is also engaged In the Eco Commons design and management at Georgia Tech, the second in a series of projects associated with the Sector Plan. The project creates an ecologically driven park in the heart of the campus.

Ren Miller

Editor in Chief
Design NJ

As editor in chief of Design NJ, Ren combines his love for words with his interest in interior, architectural and landscape design. His goal is to share those interests by presenting the stories behind beautiful, functional and comfortable homes where the owners can relax, rejuvenate and focus on the truly meaningful aspects of life. Now in his 17th year at Design NJ, he leads a talented team of editors who share those interests. During his career in publishing, Ren has accumulated experience in editing, writing, design and marketing for newspapers, magazines and social media in start-up and established publishing environments.

Anne ‘Dede’ Neal Petri

President/CEO
National Association for Olmsted Parks

Ms. Neal Petri is the President and CEO of the National Association for Olmsted Parks. She has been a leader and innovator in a wide range of nonprofit organizations. Before becoming president of NAOP, she was the 42nd president of The Garden Club of America. In 1995, she co-founded the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, and was its president from 2003 – 2016. She also served as General Counsel for the National Endowment for the Humanities and as a First Amendment lawyer. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, from Harvard College, with an A.B. in American history and literature. She received her JD from Harvard Law School where she was the first woman editor of the Harvard Journal on Legislation. Board service includes Friends of the National Arboretum, Capitol Historical Society, Casey Trees, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Aldo Leopold Foundation, Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, and All Hallows Guild where she spearheaded the Olmsted Woods restoration at the National Cathedral.

Jennifer Reut, PhD

Acting Editor
Landscape Architecture Magazine

Jennifer Reut was Landscape Architecture Magazine’s Senior Editor for seven years before becoming Acting Editor in 2020. She has managed the digitization of LAM’s archive and is working on the magazine’s digital transformation. She is the founder of Mapping the Green Book and an independent scholar of American architectural and landscape history. She published a thematic essay, “Black Travelers On and Off the Road,” and five entries in the architectural encyclopedia, SAH Archipedia. Reut served as an advisor on the documentary Driving While Black. She has a master’s and a doctorate in architectural history from the University of Virginia.

Emmanuelle Roux, Architect – Urban Planner

Architect – Urban Planner
Atelier Parisien d’Urbanisme (APUr)

Emmanuelle Roux is an urban planner with over 15 years at Atelier Parisien d’Urbanisme (APUr), the Parisian planning firm aiming to renovate the famous Champs-Élysées. Her areas of studies include the analysis of changing sectors, with a view to helping decision-makers realize their ambitions to move towards a carbon neutral city. Part of her work involves developing the implementation of tools to measure the desired objectives and participatory workshops for these key stakeholders.

Sean Ryan LLA, ASLA

Historic American Landscapes (HALS)

A Rutgers landscape architecture graduate (1991) who worked on the Union County (UC) Park System from 1992-2012. The UC Park System was designed by the Olmsted firm from 1921-1965. Mr. Ryan holds a certificate in Historic Preservation from Drew University. Currently Mr. Ryan is involved assisting HALS (Historic American Landscapes). He also designs gardens/ landscapes, and civic projects. Mr. Ryan also works with his family in the real estate industry.

 

Charles King Sadler, ASLA, ISA

Principal
King Garden
Charles King Sadler is a certified arborist and master pruner with over two decades of experience in the integration of art and horticulture into the design and care of landscapes, with a specialization in hand pruning techniques.

Mr. Sadler’s expertise in this area is extensive, with a portfolio of over 800 public, private, and institutional projects, including large-scale projects as well as landscapes of great historical significance. Mr. Sadler co-hosts “In the Landscape” podcast with his wife Dr. Katherine Sadler, Director of Operations at Houston Botanic Garden, where they share their passion and expertise for horticulture.

Inga Saffron

Architecture Critic
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Inga Saffron has been the Philadelphia Inquirer’s architecture critic since 1999. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism and a Loeb Fellowship from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. In 2021, Rutgers University Press published a selection of her columns, Becoming Philadelphia: How an old American city made itself new again. She is also the author of a cultural history of the sturgeon, Caviar: The Strange and Uncertain Future of the World’s Most Coveted Delicacy. She previously worked as a foreign correspondent for the Inquirer in Russia and the former Yugoslavia.

Patricia M. Salmon

Historian
Friends of Olmsted-Beil House

Patricia M. Salmon is a Curator of History retired from the Staten Island Museum. A Staten Island resident for fifty years, Ms. Salmon has authored five books including Staten Island’s Brewery Barons; Realms of History: The Cemeteries of Staten Island; and The Staten Island Ferry: A History. She is on the Board of Directors of the Tottenville Historical Society and is the Historian of the Friends of Olmsted-Beil House. Ms. Salmon is an Adjunct Professor at the College of Staten Island and a guest lecturer at Wagner College.

Alex Schaefer

Sr. Legislative Representative
The Trust for Public Land

Alex Schaefer is a Sr. Legislative Representative for The Trust for Public Land. She joined TPL in 2019 to lead close-to-home access to nature portfolio where she has advocated for historic increases in federal funding. Alex was previously the Legislative Director for Natural Resources at the bipartisan National Governors Association (NGA) where she advanced all 55 governors’ environmental, conservation, energy and agriculture priorities with Congress and Agencies. Alex is a proud rugby coach, referee, and triathlete. She holds a bachelor’s degree in human rights advocacy from Miami University. Alex is originally from Ohio, and currently lives in Washington DC.

Jan Johnsen

Landscape Designer, Author & Speaker

Jan Johnsen is a principal of the award-winning Johnsen Landscapes & Pools in New York, and an admired garden designer and author. She was the 2019 recipient of the prestigious ‘Award of Distinction’ from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. Her firm’s website is www.johnsenlandscapes.com

Jan taught at Columbia University for many years and still teaches at the New York Botanical Garden where she was named “Instructor of the Year”. Jan’s 2021 book, Floratopia – 110 Flower Garden Ideas for Your Yard, Patio or Balcony, (Countryman Press, an imprint of W.W. Norton) joins her other garden design books, Gardentopia, Heaven is a Garden and The Spirit of Stone.

Trained in landscape architecture and professional horticulture, Jan has worked in Japan, Hawaii, and Kenya, among other places. She is an inspiring and popular speaker and loves to show how you can “co-create with nature” in your backyard. Check out her Facebook page, ‘Serenity in the Garden Blog’ or Instagram @johnsendesign.

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