con'text Magazine 2011

Global Connections

Rice Winnowing in Bali: 2010-2011 site of the Conway School’s David Bird International Service Fellowship

con text Spring 2011

Conway School of Landscape Design Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape Planning & Design

Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape Planning & Design

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The mission of the Conway School of Landscape Design is to explore, develop, practice, and teach design of the land that is ecologically and socially sustainable. The intention is to:

Progress and Partnerships

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May 28 Conway Open House

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Spring 2011

• provide graduates with the basic knowledge and

Conway School of Landscape Design

School News > Service Learning in the Sonoran Desert > New Book: Lens on Outdoor Learning > Local Food/Local Farming Lecture Series

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Highlights from Graduation 2010 > Commencement Speech by Anne Whiston Spirn > Remarks by Humanities Professor Ken Byrne

10 10 13

“Ergs Don’t Float” – Thoughts on Teaching Design

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Digital Portfolios

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Questions of Design: Students' Projects 2009-2010 > Winthrop: Planning a Walkable and Bikeable Town > Hopkinton: Downtown Revitalization > St. Anne’s: Church and Rectory Adaptive Reuse > Feed Northampton: Toward a Local Food System > Chile: Protecting Biodiversity in a Native Forest > Other Community Projects 2009-2010

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David Bird International Service Fellowship

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News from Alums > SITES - Sustainable Sites Initiative

27 32

2010 Annual Report

Class of 2010 Photos

41 Inside Back Cover

Cover photograph: Aran Wiener ’09 (used with permission).

Aran served as Conway’s 2010-2011 David Bird International Service Fellow, engaged in six weeks of sustainable design assistance to a small village in Bali in the fall of 2010.

The Conway School of Landscape Design, Inc., a Massachusetts non-profit corporation organized under Chapter 180 of the General Laws, is a training school of landscape design and land use planning. As an equal opportunity institution, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, marital or veteran status in the administration of educational, admissions, employment, or loan policies, or in any other schooladministered program.

This issue of con’text was printed on a flexographic press using all water-based inks and no solvents. The process produces very low waste.

skills necessary to practice planning, design, and management of the land that respects nature as well as humanity

• develop ecological awareness, understanding,

respect, and accommodation in our students and project clients

• produce projects that fit human use to natural

conditions.

The school’s mission guides decision-making at every level: who is hired, what projects are undertaken, how courses are structured, and what offices and sites are visited on field trips. While the program is thoroughly based on ecological knowledge and practices, Conway’s educational focus is on design of the land rather than environmental science.

Facts in Brief • Founded in 1972 • Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape Planning & Design • Ten months (September through June) of

applied study in an integrated format. Core

instruction relates directly to term-long projects.

• Emphasis. Ecologically and socially sustainable

design of the land, integrated communication

skills, individual educational goals, learning

through real projects with real clients.

• Size. 18–19 graduate students • Core Faculty. Seasoned professionals, trained in

landscape architecture, planning, architecture,

permaculture, and regenerative design. Master

teachers, adjuncts and over 50 guest speakers

each year bring additional depth.

• Degree Granted. Master of Arts in Landscape

Design, authorized by the Massachusetts Board

of Higher Education.

• Accreditation. New England Association of

Schools and Colleges, Inc. • Location. Scenic western Massachusetts near the

academic, cultural, and natural resources of the

Five Colleges and the Connecticut River Valley.

One hour from Bradley International Airport, Hartford, Connecticut.

• Campus. 34.5 acres of wooded hilltop located

one-half mile east of Conway town center.

• Facility. 5,600 square feet with four wood stoves

and passive solar design, spacious design studios

with individual drafting stations, library, class

room, design/print area, and kitchen.

Progress and Partnerships 332 S. Deerfield Road PO Box 179 Conway, MA 01341-0179 (413) 369-4044 www.csld.edu

Nicholas T. Lasoff Editor Laura Radwell Graphic Design Lynn Barclay Nancy E. Braxton Ken Byrne Kate Gehron Paul Cawood Hellmund Nicholas T. Lasoff Priscilla Novitt David Nordstrom Contributing writers

con’text is published by the Conway School of Landscape Design, ©2011 by Conway School of Landscape Design, Inc. All rights reserved.

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s I write I’m in the midst of packing for Conway’s second alumni service-learning trip, this one to the Sonoran Desert (see p. 3). It will be great fun to meet friends and graduates of the school, as we work for a week with our new colleagues at the International Sonoran Desert Alliance (ISDA).

I met ISDA executive director Tracy Taft last August with the help of Gary Bachman ’84 and together we have developed a plan to collaborate over the coming years, which will create opportunities for students and alums to help in Ajo, Arizona. We are developing a similarly inspiring institutional relationship with David Surrenda (CEO) and Jennifer Webster (Director of Operations) of the Kripalu Yoga Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, with the help of Conway friend and author Ruah Donnelly (see p. 7). We share fundamental values with these organizations, and they are interested in supporting our graduate program.

There is much other good and interesting news in this issue of con’text.

You’ll want to read Anne Spirn’s inspiring comments from the 2010 graduation, featured on page 10, and be reminded of the importance of putting down roots, being “at home” in your work, and other profound insights.

Such clarity of thought and inspiration!

Ken Byrne’s piece on page 13 will remind you why it has been so meaningful to have a humanities professor play a central part in teaching at Conway. He writes of a landscape literacy we all can

aspire to, in reading and “writing” (shaping) the world.

I think you will find this year’s annual report that begins on page 41 especially interesting. It makes clear the increasingly international scope of our school’s efforts and progress. The class notes, beginning on page 27, are as fascinating as ever. It is especially heartening this time to read of the employment recent graduates have found, sometimes through very creative routes.

We have worked to bring more photographs and other illustrations to con’text and send a special thank you to Jamie Scott ’10, whose photographs grace many of the pages of this issue.

Dozens of you recently wrote to me to give us suggestions about our new online monthly newsletter, Conway Currents, which you can read at: tinyurl.com/conwaycurrents. We would appreciate hearing suggestions from con’text readers also. What do you like about this magazine? What could we improve?

We’d love to hear from you and, even better, have you drop by the school.

Sincerely,

Paul Cawood Hellmund hellmund@csld.edu

INAUGURAL OPEN HOUSE AT WILDSIDE GARDENS Saturday, May 28, 2011, 1:30–3:30 p.m.

A Day of Celebration

May 28

Please join us for a special open house celebrating the inauguration of Wildside Gardens as a new learning laboratory for the Conway School! For further information, to RSVP, and for directions, contact Priscilla Novitt, (413) 369-4044, ext. 5 or novitt@csld.edu. See page 8 for details about Wildside.

Celebration for Nancy Braxton And at 3:30 p.m., we will celebrate and honor Nancy Braxton, who will retire in July after ten years at Conway. Nancy joined the staff in July 2001, and over the years has overseen administration, development, and admissions, all with great aplomb. If you can’t attend, but would like to send good wishes to Nancy, please email her at braxton@csld.edu.

Note there will also be a special admission information session that morning for potential applicants.

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David Brooks Andrews

Conway School of Landscape Design

From the Director

School News Faculty & Staff

ing act of statewide and regional planning for biodiversity conservation.

New Faculty Appointments in Ecology

Visiting Landscape Historian and 2010–2011 Master Teachers

Courtesy photo

Long-time Ecology Adjunct Bill Lattrell has been joined by two well-respected ecologists in exploring ecological concepts with Conway students. Elizabeth Farnsworth, who has served as a Conway master teacher, has been appointed conservation biology adjunct and Glenn Motzkin is now a master teacher in ecology.

Elizabeth is a biologist and scientific illustrator, well-known for her extensive knowledge of plants, her ability in technical illustration, and a lively sense of humor. She is co-author of the updated edition of the Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America (Houghton Mifflin). She is illustrating the forthcoming Flora of New England for the New England Wild Flower Society, as well as books on fern ecology and the natural communities of New Hampshire. Her current scientific research addresses the ecology of rare plants. She holds a PhD from Harvard University, as well as degrees from the University of Vermont and Brown University.

Priscilla Novitt ’07

Ecology is largely taught in the field, and fieldwork with Elizabeth will include concepts such as ecological community typology, indicator species, convergent evolution, disturbance, competition, invasive species, understanding and restoring ecosystem processes, habitat envelopes, home ranges, mobile organisms, and metapopulations.

Newly appointed Master Teacher Glenn Motzkin is probably best known to recent Conway grads as a perceptive critic at formal presentations and a fascinating field leader on trips to the Montague Plains.

Long associated with Harvard Forest, where he participated in research as a plant ecologist, Glenn is now an independent community ecologist. He holds a masters degree in forest ecology from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and is also a graduate of Brown University.

Glenn will lead field trips that consider the challenges and opportunities of conserving functional ecosystems in watershed protection; ecological gradients and “toposequences” from floodplains to ridgetops; and the balanc-

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Smith College

“Ecological understanding is at the heart of a Conway education and we are extremely pleased to announce new ways in which we are strengthening the teaching in ecology,” remarked Conway’s Director Paul Cawood Hellmund.

Each year, teaching by Conway’s core faculty is supplemented by specially appointed visiting teachers and master teachers. These visitors bring special expertise relevant to students’ projects or other important issues.

For the 2010–2011 academic year, we welcome a visiting landscape historian and two new master teachers, each of whom will teach occasional classes through the year.

Visiting Landscape Historian Nina Antonetti, Assistant Professor in Landscape Studies at Smith College, spoke on food democracy and sustainability on October 4 and over the coming months will offer seminars on the history of the landscape. Nina received her doctorate in landscape and architectural history from the Victorian Study Centre, University of London, and has held research positions in the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Currently, she is writing a critical analysis of the landscape architecture of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, a book project for the Library of American Landscape History. Nina teaches the core curriculum in the landscape studies program at Smith College, including Introduction to Landscape Studies; Socialized Landscapes: Private Squalor and Public Affluence; Suburbia: the Middle Landscape; and Rethinking Landscape. She is developing a new course that will examine the landscapes of indigenous peoples around the world. Nina will participate in Conway’s March 2011 service-learning trip to the Sonoran Desert.

Thomas Curren, a farmer, writer, and outdoorsman who has devoted his work life to the effectiveness and prosperity of mission-based organizations, has been appointed master teacher in conservation for the 2010– 2011 year and will visit Conway regularly to consult with students working on land trust and other conservation projects.

Tom is the Pew Charitable Trusts’ director of the Northeast Land Trust Consortium and lives in Danbury, New Hampshire. After college, Tom worked for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Mental Health Center as a guidance counselor and family worker in rural community schools, and then worked in inner-city Boston with the families of students placed at a residential treatment school in central New Hampshire. An ad hoc effort to raise funds for a maple syrup evaporator for those students led to an unanticipated appointment as chief development officer, and, eventually, to the positions of director of develop-

School News

Getting into the Conway Design Groove— in the Sonoran Desert As this issue goes to press, a group of alums and friends of the school is in the Sonoran Desert for Conway’s second servicelearning trip. Twelve members of the Conway community are working shoulder to shoulder in the historic town of Ajo, Arizona, where they will: • Learn about the people, plants, and animals of this former mining town and the Sonoran Desert •

Once the group is in Ajo, the International Sonoran Desert Alliance (ISDA), the local hosts, will show us their progress in the community and describe some of the potential projects for future Conway students. The next days will be split between helping develop the scope for those potential projects and touring the broader landscape. There will be time for hiking and exploring the desert, which should be in springtime bloom; the trip includes a visit to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

The last day in Ajo, participants will present their findings to the community and then travel back to Tucson. The next morning, trip participants will fly home.

Help identify and review major future projects (food security, site design, open space planning, urban design, economic revitalization) for Conway graduate students

• Mentor recent Conway graduates starting out on their professional careers

ISDA is a non-profit corporation founded in 1993. It is governed by a board of directors representing indigenous and non-indigenous populations of the U.S. and Mexico. Through the organization, concerned people from all walks of life have joined forces to promote the concept and practice of conservation throughout the bioregion. ISDA educates in ways of protecting and respecting valuable biological and cultural resources and traditions. They have completed many community-based projects, including the multi-million-dollar renovation of Ajo’s historic Curley School as affordable live/work rentals for artists, artisans, and creative home businesses. ISDA also owns and manages the Ajo town plaza.

• Receive mentoring from seasoned planners and designers • Make a difference through design The trip organizers are Conway’s Director, Paul Cawood Hellmund, and Gary Bachman, a 1984 Conway graduate who lives in Tucson, Arizona, and manages the Pima County Neighborhood Investment Partnership. For seventeen years, Gary has implemented affordable housing and community development and planning programs that serve diverse Arizona communities, including Ajo. Paul led Conway’s 2008 service-learning trip to the village of Achiote, Panama.

ment at the New Hampton School and vice president for marketing and development at the Crotched Mountain Foundation, New England’s largest school for children with special needs. In 1994, Tom was appointed executive director, and later president, of the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, a conservation organization based in central New Hampshire, which grew from a sixteenhundred-acre conservation base to become the largest landowner in the region, with more than sixteen thousand acres under management by 2005. The following year, Tom joined the Pew Charitable Trusts as director of the Northeast Land Trust Consortium, a conservation initiative that has thus far raised over one hundred million dollars and had a hand in protecting more than eight hundred acres of conservation land within a day’s

Jewel Clearwater

Trip participants will gather in Tucson, where they will be introduced to the fascinating plants, animals, and foods of the Sonoran Desert, including those at the acclaimed Sonoran Desert Museum. The drive to Ajo will serve as further introduction to the landscape as trip leader Gary Bachman uses the drive as a natural history transect. Stopping at the Tohono O’odham Nation participants will visit a beautiful new cultural center and then stop at a great café that puts a contemporary culinary twist on traditional O’odham foods.

Paul Hellmund visited Arizona in August 2010 to meet the local hosts and help plan the trip. For more information, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/conway-sonoran.

drive of New York City. As a foundation officer making house calls, Tom works closely with dozens of land trusts, scores of communities, and hundreds of philanthropists on behalf of worthy conservation projects on the landscape that stretches between the Maine coast and the Ohio River. He lives with his wife, folklorist Kathy Neustadt, on a 108-acre farm in Danbury.

Master Teacher in Sustainability Erik van Lennep is a 1983 graduate of the Conway School. Erik will teach seminars (through the Internet) in sustainability and design for multicultural settings. He has over thirty years experience in setting up innovative collaborative projects in the U.S. and Ireland. His consultative expertise has focused upon sustainable development, including multi-

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cultural inclusion, cross-sectoral collaboration, awareness building and communication, environmental impacts, restoration ecology, innovation, planning and design.

He worked from 2001 to 2007 with Sustainable Ireland Cooperative Society Ltd. The cooperative was set up to address the need for networking the sustainability movement on a national scale and promoting awareness and attitude change to further the uptake of sustainability. Erik has been responsible for the development of a number of key programs, including the LEONARDO-based training program in sustainability.

He is a co-founder of the cooperative’s Cultivate Centre for Sustainable Living in Dublin.

Prior to going to Ireland, Erik was co-founder of the International Rainforest Action Network, San Francisco, and founding director of the Arctic to Amazonia Alliance, a global human rights initiative for tribal peoples. He was a consultant to the Forest Stewardship Council and the Smart Wood certification program; he is responsible for the inclusion of language that supports the rights of local communities, cultures, and economies tied to the forests being certified.

Keith Zaltzberg Joins Faculty as Digital Design Instructor

In January 2011, the Conway School welcomed Keith Zaltzberg as digital design instructor. Keith works with students during the winter term to help them understand what a Geographic Information System (GIS) is, and how it can support land-use planning and design. Students gain a working knowledge of the functionality and resources of GIS software, allowing them to apply these powerful tools to future projects.

Keith has extensive experience using GIS in his past work as an associate designer and technical specialist at Dodson Associates Landscape Architects and Planners in Ashfield, Massachusetts, and as a certified permaculture designer with over eight years of experience working with farmers and permaculturalists. He is a founding partner and lead ecological designer at the Regenerative Design Group, where he works with individuals, communities and organizations to help them understand, appreciate, and steward their landscape through design. Keith is also a studio instructor at Smith College, and has served as a volunteer designer at the Wise Wetlands Restoration Project, an educational resource that explores alternatives in land reclamation in the Appalachian region.

He holds a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Design from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of MassachusettsAmherst, where he was awarded the Faculty Award for

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Environmental Design, and received his Permaculture Designer’s Certification from Bullock Permaculture Center in Orcas Island, Washington.

Many thanks to Reid Bertone-Johnson, who taught the digital design course until now.

Welcome, Lynn Barclay, Development Director

Courtesy photo

Courtesy photo

School News

Lynn Barclay joined the Conway staff last fall, bringing extensive nonprofit experience managing innovative programs, working within educational organizations, and developing strategic partnerships. She has served as an outreach coordinator organizing community service learning projects for a regional educational collaborative. In her most recent position, she was the coordinator for a small international nonprofit focused on indigenous land rights, human rights, and environmental justice. She played a supportive role on an international project that is using research and ancestral knowledge to plan climate change adaptation measures designed to achieve local food security in eight threatened ecosystems located in indigenous territories. Lynn has over twentyfive years of development experience. She has helped organizations increase individual giving levels, event income, private foundation and government grants, and legislative appropriations. She recently implemented a mission-based fund raising model for an area educational nonprofit that resulted in substantially increased annual giving from individual donors. In the last five years, she has written sixteen successful grant proposals for education and international organizations, yielding a total of over $1.5 million. Lynn lives in Northampton with her husband and their two daughters.

Thank you, Kim Klein

Kim Klein, who served as director of development and alumni services for two years, is now working with filmmaker Ken Burns and Florentine Films. Many thanks to Kim for her contributions and best wishes to her in her new position!

Campus Two Receive Honorary Degrees from Conway

The Trustees of the Conway School of Landscape Design recognized two longtime friends of the school with honorary degrees in sustainable landscape planning and design in 2010.

Students, faculty, and staff enjoyed a visit to Jill Ker Conway’s home on May 3, 2010. Jill gave the group a tour of her property, which she has nurtured since her

Jamie Scott ‘10

School News

days as the first female president of Smith College (1975–1985), and spoke about her ties to landscape.

Trustee Ginny Sullivan ’86 presented the degree to Jill for her many contributions as a writer, educator, and historian. The author and editor of many books, inJill Ker Conway, right, with cluding three memoirs, Jill trustee Ginny Sullivan has served on the boards of a number of major American companies, including Merrill Lynch, ColgatePalmolive, Nike, and Lend Lease Corporation. She has long been a visiting professor at the program in science, technology, and society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has said that her avocation is gardening and landscape design.

Pamela White Sand

Conway has spoken at the school several times, including as a public lecturer in 2003, commencement speaker in 2005, and at Director Paul Cawood Hellmund’s inauguration in 2006. She has said of the Conway School of Landscape Design, “The institution has, from its earliest days, built its program around understanding the interaction of natural and human social and cultural systems. Its students take pride in finding the meeting place and balance between a community’s desires for its landscape and the ecological balance that produces a sustainable natural environment. This means that the school’s graduates are experts, without a doubt, but experts with a professional ethos very different from the doctrinaire theoretician designer, who brings her or his vision to impose on the project. Instead, they are experts at understanding human desires and finding the way to express them in ecologically sound design.”

Following her graduation address (see p. 10), Anne Whiston Spirn received her honorary degree from Vice Chair of the Board Rick Brown. Spirn is an awardwinning author and distinguished landscape architect, photographer, teacher, and scholar. Spirn worked as a landscape architect and planner at Wallace McHarg Roberts and Todd in the 1970s, on projects ranging from plans for an entire region to a single city to designs for parks. She served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1979 to 1986, and then moved to the University of Pennsylvania, where she succeeded Ian McHarg as chairman of the department of landscape architecture and regional planning.

Since 2000, she has been Trustee Rick Brown presents professor of landscape Anne Whiston Spirn with an architecture and planning honorary degree

at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also directs the West Philadelphia Landscape Project, an action research program integrating research, teaching and community service; she is currently at work on a book describing this research-in-action and its lessons for building safer, healthier, and more equitable and sustainable communities.

Conway Receives Positive Fifth-Year Accreditation Review

During the 2009–2010 academic year, the Conway School underwent its scheduled interim five-year review by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) towards continuation of the school’s accreditation through NEASC’s Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE). (See Winter 2010 con’text, p. 2.) A forty-two-page self-study addressing all aspects of the school, prepared by Admission Director Nancy Braxton in consultation with Conway faculty and staff, and approved by the Conway board of trustees in its February 2010 meeting, was accepted in May 2010 by CIHE with a note of commendation for Conway’s “wellwritten report that provided a detailed and comprehensive evaluation of all the standards.”

The CIHE letter of acceptance notes “with favor that the institution appears to be well managed and maintains stable and consistent admissions, enrollment, and retention data. Conway carefully monitors its enrollment of nineteen students (current and projected) and its small number of faculty (one full-time and four part-time). In addition to the goals and strategies of the Master of Arts in Landscape Design (MALD) program, the [school’s] strategic plan also outlines the vision for the Conway Institute of Regenerative Design. Finally, we note favorably that the MALD program has specific learning outcomes and is regularly assessed by faculty and outside reviewers.” The May 2010 letter specifically noted “the Commission is pleased to learn that (Conway) has increased its net assets by seventeen percent over the past five years (from $956,565 to $1,116, 463.)”

In addition, the May CIHE letter takes positive note of Conway’s efforts to seek and achieve more objective documentation of student learning through receiving written comments to specified criteria from guest critics at the formal presentation of student projects three times each year. The letter also lauds Conway’s having “committed to initiating a more formal method to monitor the success of Conway graduates in the field to be done on a triennial basis”—a reference to the broadened survey of Check out Conway Currents, our eNewsletter:

"It's fabulous! Colorful, informative, diverse, easy to maneuver." http://tinyurl.com/conway-currents To subscribe, email editor@csld.edu.

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School News

New Book by Conway Alum and Board Member

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inny Sullivan ’86 has recently completed co-writing Lens on Outdoor Learning with Wendy Banning, published in October 2010 by Redleaf Press. The authors bring together images and children’s own words gathered from their field work in a variety of diverse settings to illuminate the magic that happens when children engage with the natural world. Framed by the early learning standards, children’s self-directed experiences are revealed as a natural vehicle for learning in all domains.

These richly illustrated and deeply affecting narratives allow teachers and caregivers to see and to understand the innate curiosity with which children approach the natural world. They reveal that simply going outside engages children’s senses and initiates meaning-making, the eternal quest to figure out “what is going on here?”

The stories and analysis in this book will support teachers and centers as they work to develop their outdoor environments.

They show how responsibility for “teaching” the standards, seen by many teachers as a barrier to taking children outside,

alumni sent out in fall 2009. The letter goes on to state, “We look forward to learning about the School’s success in achieving more objective documentation through use of these and other assessment methods.” Towards that end, under the impetus of the academic committee of Conway’s board of trustees, the school has contracted with a qualified professional to review, summarize and prepare a written report on the survey data received from Conway alums in fall 2009. Stay posted!

The ten-year comprehensive NEASC evaluation of Conway is scheduled for spring 2015. In the meantime, the CIHE’s May 2010 letter asks that the School submit a report in fall 2012 that gives emphasis to progress in: • implementing and monitoring its strategic plan for 2009–2014, “Sustaining a Community of Life-Long Learners” • using program evaluation and assessment of student learning for documenting claims and making improvements

can actually free teachers to offer children valuable outdoor experience. By demonstrating how children spontaneously engage with the standards outdoors, this book encourages teachers to partner with the outdoors to meet mandated expectations effectively and creatively.

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, offers this praise: “Lens on Outdoor Learning is a terrific resource for teachers and parents who want to enrich young and curious minds and their own minds, too.”

Learn more about Ginny’s book at www.learningbytheyard.com.

It is available on amazon.com and from the publisher at www.redleafpress.org.

fluorescent light fixture was installed at the front door.

We hope to be able to complete the project this year with the addition of two more post-mounted fixtures, which will illuminate the far end of the parking area.

To help improve energy efficiency, programmable thermostats were installed in all six heating zones. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that switching over to programmable thermostats can save ten percent on heating bills, amounting to a savings of three hundred dollars per year for the school. This change will avert more than two thousand pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. The 1980s dishwasher was replaced with a new EnergyStar model also helping to improve our energy efficiency.

A whole-house surge protector was installed to complement the surge suppressor outlet strips and battery backups already in use. This extra layer of security will help protect the investments in computer hardware that the school has made over the last several years.

Conway Campus Safer and More Sustainable

An “almost new” HP Designjet 500 plotter capable of using forty-two-inch wide paper was donated by a local resident to replace our aging thirty-six-inch plotter.

Students are able to produce large, professional-looking presentation graphics with the new equipment. The old plotter was donated to an area technical school.

Campus nighttime safety was improved this past spring with the addition of two motion-sensor, dark-sky compliant, post-mounted lighting fixtures that were installed in the parking area closest to the school. In addition a new

A special thanks goes out to alum Ian Hodgdon ’07, who volunteered forty hours of his time in late summer to help with facility maintenance and repair projects. In addition to resetting bluestone tiles in the lobby and

• ensuring continued stability in enrollment and financial resources

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School News

repairing the woodshed, Ian chopped kindling, fixed studio chairs, and helped with cleaning chores to get the school ready for the incoming students.

The class of 2010 donated $360 towards the cost of a new sign for the driveway entrance. Tom Jandernoa ’10 prepared alternative designs and, along with several classmates at the fall-term formal presentations, presented a “paper” version of the new sign to the school. The school is now in the process of having the sign made by a local manufacturer.

Welcome, Conway Class of 2011!

The eighteen-member class of 2011 brings an extraordinary depth and range of backgrounds to their ten months at Conway, where they seek to further strengthen their knowledge and skills in sustainable landscape planning and design. Geographically diverse, the four men and fourteen women come mostly from the East Coast but also as far east as England, as far west as Washington and Hawaii, and as far south as Mexico.

Prior careers and studies that have launched these class members towards Conway include: historical preservation with a specialty in historic architecture and cultural landscape; fashion design; undergraduate work in architecture and landscape studies; regional government and community planning; outdoor leadership and wilderness ethics; food and farming; ecological design; high school environmental studies; arboretum training; environmental activism; regenerative design and collaborative learning; horticulture and native plants; ecological agriculture; naturalistic habitat design and restoration; permaculture; sustainable urbanism; educational organic gardening; master gardening; and sustainable real estate development.

Conway Forges New Partnerships

We are pleased to announce new partnerships with Kripalu Yoga and Health Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and the International Sonoran Desert Alliance (ISDA) in Ajo, Arizona.

One of the key goals in the development of a long-term working relationship for Conway’s work with Kripalu is to develop a framework for landscape planning and design—a system for identifying, prioritizing, and coordinating future, land-based projects. The framework will help Kripalu balance short-term needs with long-term strategies, small-scale interventions with broad-scale thinking. It will also help coordinate a long-term partnership between Conway and Kripalu. Conway faculty will use the framework to develop discrete projects that groups of students will undertake for Kripalu. The first project is a 2011 winter-term student project, which takes a broad, landscape planning look at Kripalu’s historic property of over one hundred acres. Successive groups of Conway students will bring fresh enthusiasm and insight to unique, accomplishable projects, which will all add up to a cohesive vision for Kripalu’s future in the landscape.

The International Sonoran Desert Alliance in Ajo, Arizona, and the Conway School have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreeing to collaborate through June 30, 2013, on projects of mutual interest.

“We are very pleased to have this MOU in place because of the very exciting prospects for exploring effective multicultural design and planning,” said Conway’s director, Paul Cawood Hellmund, who visited Ajo this past August. “It will allow Conway students, staff, and alums to offer their planning and design assistance in and around Ajo, which is an amazing community that has tremendous cultural and natural resources and also

Food and Farm Lecture Series

I

n collaboration with Greenfield Community College (GCC), Conway is offering an exciting spring speakers series: “Things Are Looking Up Down On The Farm.” This series of three talks, free and open to the public, will feature inspiring presentations on the topic of food and farms.

Farm Economy: Tom Stearns, President, High Mowing Organic Seed Company, Wolcott, Vermont, and President, Center for Agricultural Economy, Hardwick, Vermont. Wednesday, April 13, 6:30–8:00 p.m.

at GCC Downtown Campus, 270 Main Street, Greenfield, Massachusetts.

Farm-Hers Panel Discussion: Moderator: Suzette Snow-Cobb, Green Fields Market, Greenfield, Massachusetts; Panelists: Deb Habib, Seeds of Solidarity, Orange, Massachusetts; Sorrel Hatch, Upinngil Farm, Gill, Massachusetts; Caroline Pam, The Kitchen Garden, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

Monday, April 25, 6:30–8:00 p.m. at GCC Downtown Campus, 270 Main Street, Greenfield, Massachusetts.

Farm Land: Cris Coffin, American Farmland Trust, New England Director. Thursday, May 19, 6:30–8:00

p.m. at Conway School of Landscape Design, 332 South Deerfield Road, Conway, Massachusetts.

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School News

challenges.” Ajo (pronounced ah-hoe), which was once a copper mining town, prides itself on the diverse cultural backgrounds of its residents. ISDA is a tri-national organization, with board members from Mexico, the United States, and the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Both Conway and ISDA have strong ecological and social components as part of their missions. Immediate results of the collaboration include a 2011 winter-term student project, and a March 2011 service-learning trip to Arizona for Conway alums and friends, detailed on page 3. For more information about this important multicultural initiative or to learn how you can lend your support, please contact Lynn Barclay, Conway’s development director, barclay@csld.edu, (413) 369-4044 ext. 3.

Eight Acres of Living Experiments Now Available for Conway Students

Standard solar panels supply electricity for a full array of demanding kitchen, laundry and office equipment, and the well pump. A newer technology, solar vacuum tubes, provides domestic hot water and radiant heat. The whimsically planted sod roof cools the cottage interior in the summer, and, in colder seasons, keeps heat in. The cottage is sited for maximum passive solar gain in winter.

The Seven Gardens of Wildside. Seven distinct garden

areas take advantage of the diverse micro-climates and soil types that occur naturally on Wildside’s sloping eight acres. These will become an abundant local source of food for residents, guests, and the surrounding community. In general, no gas or oil-driven equipment is needed for food production or maintenance. Terrace gardens just below the cottage provide permaculture plantings which sprout again each year with little or no tending. Closer to the cottage are an herb garden and an eat-in-season terrace. A substantial annual garden at the bottom of the south-facing hill provides winter storage crops. A wide variety of nut trees have been planted along the north and south perimeters, and a wet meadow to the east may eventually be planted with rice. Wildside’s most distinctive garden is the extensive east-facing “forest garden” slope, promising to produce a generous variety of fruits and berries for decades into the future.

Laura Rissolo ’11

Sue Bridge (on right in photo to left) is a rural New Eng-

Faculty and staff tour Wildside with owner Sue Bridge, right

Sue Bridge, owner of Wildside Cottage and Gardens, has signed an agreement with the Conway School that will allow Conway students and faculty to use Wildside as a learning laboratory over the next several years. “This is a wonderful opportunity for our school,” said Conway director Paul Cawood Hellmund, “Wildside is practically next door and the agreement allows us to be part of the impressive range of experiments Sue is carrying out.”

Functioning smoothly off-grid since June 2008, Wildside Cottage and Gardens is designed to demonstrate how future generations can live comfortably without depending on increasingly scarce and expensive fossil fuels. Dave Hopkins of EcoRealty describes the cottage as “the greenest home in the Pioneer Valley.”

The gardens surrounding the cottage were designed

by Conway faculty member Jono Neiger to follow the principles of permaculture. They create a diverse and beautiful edible landscape carefully planned to offer abundant year-round foods to humans, beneficial insects, and wildlife.

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lander, educated at Wellesley and Yale. She has worked at the United Nations, taught college, and worked, lived, and traveled in France, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. She was co-founder of a regional cable television network. She worked for several years on the business side of The Christian Science Monitor’s attempt to diversify into radio and television, and subsequently wrote a book about the experience. She has consulted to nonprofits, including television start-ups, elder care organizations, and a three-year health-care-reform campaign.

She was a founding member of the board and business consultant to Beacon Hill Village, a successful effort to allow older people, including those of modest means, to age securely in their own homes for as long as they wish.

In 2007, Sue bought the eight acres of fallow pasture and overgrown tree farm in Conway, on which she has built Wildside Cottage and Gardens—a semi-experimental project to demonstrate what the good life might be like after the end of cheap and abundant fossil fuels.

Conway students and faculty are regular visitors to Wildside, and Sue frequently attends lectures and other events at the school.

See page 1 for news of an inaugural event at Wildside for Conway alums and friends this spring.

School News

Trustee News

Carol Franklin, a nationally recognized expert in sustainable design, has known about and loved Conway for years, and has always admired the students and the work the school does. Carol studied under Ian McHarg at the University of Pennsylvania, where she subsequently taught for more than thirty years. A registered landscape architect and a fellow of the American Association of Landscape Architects, she recently retired and coauthored a book on the social, political, and ecological history of the Wissahickon Valley, an eighteen-hundredacre wooded stream valley that is part of the ninety-oneacre Fairmount Park system in Philadelphia. Carol was elected to a three-year term on the board at the May 2010 meeting.

Bob Pura is an innovative and dedicated educator who is extraordinarily involved in his community. He has thirty years of experience as a teacher and administrator in the Massachusetts community college system, the last ten as president of Greenfield Community College. He has a

Courtesy photo

Conway is pleased to welcome two new members to our board of trustees: Carol Franklin, principal of Andropogon Associates, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Robert L. Pura, president of Greenfield Community College, in Western Massachusetts. Carol is recognized as one of the foremost ecological designers of our day and will bring her tremendous expertise to her service to the school. Bob is an inspiring collaborator who has forged numerous successful partnerships with businesses, agencies, and non-profits throughout the Pioneer Valley and beyond.

Thanks to Hank Art

Trustee and friend Hank Art stepped down from the board in October 2011 after more than nine years of service. He has been involved with many aspects of the school’s life both before and during his tenure on the board, and we are happy to say that he will continue his engagement with Conway in the years to come.

Courtesy photo

Lynn Barclay

Two New Trustees Join Board

Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin, and has made presentations for Harvard University, the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, and the League for Innovation in Community Colleges. He has served as chair of the Massachusetts Community College Presidents’ Council, and currently serves on the Boards of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, Regional Employment Board, Economic Development Board of Western Massachusetts, WFCR Public Radio, and the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

Bob was elected to a three-year term on the board at the October 2010 meeting.

Hank has been Samuel Fessenden Clarke Professor of Biology at Williams College since 1970. One of his research interests there has been long-term ecological research in the College-owned Hopkins Memorial Forest in Williamstown, Massachusetts, which involves the investigation of long-term changes in successional relationships among species comprising the various communities in the forest, and the extent to which natural and human-use disturbances have played a role in shaping the present patterns of communities and ecosystems. One of the many ways Hank has shared his time and expertise with us over the years has been to host fieldwork sessions with Conway students at the Hopkins Forest.

Hank has participated in many school projects, including participating in a special New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) committee that oversaw Conway’s self-assessment during our institutional accreditation review. He has served as a critic at a staggering fifteen student formal project presentations, providing critical insights and comments to help students re-focus and refine their projects before the end of each term.

Lynn Barclay

We thank Hank for his service on the board and look forward to his continued involvement as teacher, mentor, guest, critic, and friend.

As part of their fall retreat, trustees met with former Smith College President Jill Ker Conway at her home

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Graduation 2010

Landscape, Artistry, and Revision Cultivating the Partnership of People and Place: Some Guiding Principles

At graduation, Conway presented commencement speaker Anne Whiston Spirn with an honorary degree (see p. 5).

From an Introduction

by Paul Cawood Hellmund

Commencement Speech by Anne Whiston Spirn

Today’s commencement speaker, Anne Whiston Spirn, reads, speaks, and writes the language of landscape, which she has profoundly described as “a way of thinking with the world.” In her book, Language of Landscape, she notes that, “Ironically, the professionals who specialize, reading certain parts of landscape more deeply than other parts and shaping them more powerfully, often fail to understand landscape as a continuous whole.”

This is consistent with our interest at the Conway School in designing places as parts of whole systems and also with the observation of occasional Conway visitor David Orr that “generalists are specialists of whole systems.”

Courtesy photo

Anne’s other books are: The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design, named by the American Planning Association as one of the one hundred essential books of planning in the past century; Daring to Look: Dorothea Lange’s Photographs and Reports from the Field; and many chapters in books and essays.

She is a graduate of Radcliffe College and holds a masters degree in landscape architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied with Ian McHarg.

She has taught at the Harvard Design School (where she was one of my teachers) and the University of Pennsylvania, where she served as chairman of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning. She is currently professor of landscape architecture at MIT. Please join me in welcoming Anne Whiston Spirn.

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George Bouret

That’s what we are: specialists of whole systems, the whole landscape, the whole enchilada. And specialists need language to communicate. We generalist-specialists need the language of landscape. Anne Spirn has helped us see and meet this need through decades of practice as a landscape architect and planner, teacher, writer, and scholar, working at the intersection of design and ecology, including and especially in cities.

Thirty years ago, photography critic A. D. Coleman proposed a set of guiding principles for artists and photographers. On reading them recently, I was struck by how well they apply to landscape designers and planners. And I realized that I had incorporated all of them into my own career as a landscape architect, author, and photographer. I also noted how often Coleman uses metaphors relating to landscapes and plants.

Coleman speaks of what it means to be an artist: “If you would be an artist [or landscape designer/planner] whose work truly matters to any group of people, you must live as one of them, speaking their language, sharing their experience—their air, their food, their water; addressing your mutual concerns. Therefore the first rule is: Stay put. Grow roots; allow the soil to feed you.” Coleman’s second principle is: “Dig in Elena Rivera ’10 presents a special your heels. Do not accede award to her landlords, Don and Betty Fitzgerald, who have to any system that would housed Conway students for over shunt you aimlessly, contwenty years stantly, from one context to another. Such systems are hostile to your survival. Develop versatility. There are alternative means for supporting yourself. Learn to thrive in the cracks.”

Coleman’s first two principles contrast with my first five years as a landscape architect, working in Philadelphia for Wallace, McHarg, Roberts, and Todd (now WRT) on a series of projects in the U.S. and abroad: plans for Woodlands New Community in Houston, Texas; a comprehensive land use plan for Sanibel, Florida; an environmental assessment of the Denver metropolitan region; a study of the natural resources of Toronto’s Central Waterfront; the design for a zoo and park in Tehran, Iran. It was exciting to work on those projects, but I felt like a carpetbagger who parachuted in, made

Graduation 2010

recommendations, and then left. Since we were not there to see things through, sometimes our proposals were set aside or something quite different was implemented. In response to that experience, I’ve chosen to engage for more than twenty years in a single place in West Philadelphia on an action research project. I have worked with some of the same people over those many years, but also with new people in every year. Watching how designs and plans are implemented over time—and it can take five, ten, or twenty years for that to happen—I have come to appreciate how the success of much landscape and urban design lies in the stewardship of a project over time, of building support before construction and managing and maintaining it afterward.

publications, and photographs invite others in. Photography, in particular, is for me a way to discover and explore ideas that are latent in landscape and to find the stories that people, whether as societies or as individuals, tell through the landscapes they shape. I hang my photographs on the walls of my home and studio to share them with others, but also to confront me. Over time, they teach me things that I didn’t even know I knew.

Make of your own garden, whether a real garden or a figurative one, a place to try out ideas. Live with them, share them with people, and experience how others respond. If your work does not take the form of a garden, make photographs or drawings or texts. Find ways to bring your work into your home where it will confront and teach you every day.

The West Philadelphia Landscape Project was launched in 1987 with a large grant from the J. N. Pew Charitable Trust, which lasted four years. In the 1990s, I found it more difficult to get grants of that scale and scope, so I learned to thrive in the cracks. In some respects, my work in West Philadelphia for the next sixteen or eighteen years was even richer for being conducted on shoestring budgets. Since then, I have spent less time in the university managing those budgets and supervising a dozen research assistants and more time out in the field. I have observed and learned things which I never would have understood without that first-hand experience. Learning to thrive in the cracks can be an advantage.

Another of Coleman’s principles is: “Know history.

Especially your particular history, that of yourself and your people, whoever they are. You must be aware of all that has brought you to this moment. Only then can this moment or any other be truly yours.”

Every place, like every person, is in the process of becoming. One cannot possibly envision what the future of a place might be if one does not know the history of its development. Designers and planners who do not know the trajectory that a place has been following risk failing when they intervene to change that course.

Coleman’s next principle is: “Make a home for yourself.

Heed the rhythms of intimacy. The artist must learn to be at home in his or her work to invite others in and make them feel welcome. Put your own work on view—in your home and studio where you must live with and confront it daily. If your images cannot nourish you, and sustain your own interest at length, they’re unlikely to be of use to any of the rest of us.”

Two of the great Scandinavian landscape architects of the last half century were Sven-Ingvar Andersson, who was a professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, and Per Friberg, who taught at the Swedish Agricultural University. They were both successful practitioners as well as teachers, and they employed their own gardens as places of experimentation. There, they learned from the successes and failures of experiments, which fed back into their professional practice and their teaching.

These personal gardens were sometimes a bit messy, but were all the more wonderful for their creative complexity. They were laboratories where Andersson and Friberg tried out ideas. To be in those extraordinary gardens was to be invited into their minds, to share their thoughts.

Books and photographs and community engagement are my own laboratories, and I hope that my projects,

George Bouret

Regard the current period of economic austerity as an opportunity. Find your crack to thrive in, dig in, and put down roots.

There is another good reason for knowing the history of the places where one works: to share that history with the people who live there. As part of the West Philadelphia Kate Snyder ’10 Landscape Project, in the late 1990s my students taught the history of the local landscape as a foundation for urban design and planning to eighth graders in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Philadelphia. Initially, when my students asked the children to envision changes to the neighborhood, the eighth graders said, “Change won’t happen. Even if it does, someone will wreck it.”

It wasn’t until the children learned about the history of their neighborhood—events caused by individual actions and decisions as well as by political and economic forces that were impinging on the neighborhood from outside, by federal policies, for example, or national and state policies, and by other things going on in the city—that they became liberated from the constraints of a perennial present. Learning about the past enabled them to imagine a future. Once they understood how their neighborhood had changed over time and how individuals and policies had shaped change in the past, they were able to think about how things might change in the future. And they were full of ideas for how they could implement those changes.

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A. D. Coleman also advises: “Hone your craft. There is always a deeper level of communion with your tools, materials and processes to work toward.”

nomic times, they knocked on McHarg’s door; they had read his book. So, initially, I decided to write “Design with Nature in the City” to build a clientele for the kind of work I wanted to do. And it worked. After my book, The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design, was published in 1984, the phone began to ring, and the callers offered professional projects. I was teaching at Harvard then, with a family and a four-year-old son, and I realized that I had to make a choice between practice and academia. I looked around me and saw many who were just as good at design work as I was and many who were more gifted designers. On the other hand, I did not see, at that time, individuals who were going to write the kind of books that I wanted to write. So I decided to remain in academia for ten years and see what happened. But I could not abandon practice entirely, so the West Philadelphia Landscape Project became a long-term research practice. It has been a vehicle for bringing together my professional, intellectual, aesthetic, and social commitments.

As enjoyable and fulfilling as the mastery of craft may be, craft is not an end in itself. To the practitioner, it is a means to an end. Through your studies in landscape planning and design, you have acquired a common, entry-level craft. But now the specifics of your craft will diverge. In the future, you won’t each be honing the same craft. Each of you will need different skills depending on what you choose as your subject: the craft of a garden designer is different from that of an environmental planner. You must master whatever craft your subject demands. So what is/are your subject(s)?

Coleman again: “With perseverance and good fortune, you will find your true subjects, or they will find you. In either case, be prepared to be surprised. One does not choose one’s obsessions.”

Landscape architecture is a capacious field. It gives scope to bring together many interests. As a senior in college, I considered my future. I wanted to be an artist and a photographer. Should I go to art school? Or should I continue to study art history? I was interested in the relationship between people and society: should I get a Ph.D. in anthropology? I loved the outdoors. I wanted to change the world. What subject should I choose? Fortunately, I found landscape architecture, a field that could accommodate all of these interests. Now my work encompasses all my passions. Photography is part of that work, so are people, ethnography, and trying to make the world a better place.

Pay attention to your obsessions. Discover the subjects that belong to you and find ways to weave them together.

This may sound simple, but it’s not. People tend to devalue what they do best. They think, “That’s so easy; anyone can do that.” Instead they often devote themselves to mastering things that are more difficult for them. But remember, whatever it is that you find easy to do, others may find the most difficult. Identify your particular combination of strengths, passions, and skills. They will point the way to your own work and contributions.

For me, that combination is the ability to think in both images and words. Primarily, I am a visual thinker, and my native language is images not words. Nevertheless, I am more comfortable with words than many visual thinkers.

This combination of strengths shaped my career. Working for Ian McHarg during the economic recession of the early 1970s, I came to appreciate how his book Design with Nature, rich as it was with ideas and innovations, also created a world of clients. Even in the toughest eco-

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George Bouret

I would add one additional principle to A.D. Coleman’s: Know your strengths.

Each of us has a particular combination of strengths, passions, and experience, but there is an idea and a physical phenomenon—landscape—that unites all landscape designers and planners. Landscape is such an important concept, so poorly understood by our culture. Dictionaries (including the Oxford English Dictionary, which is the place I always go to first to understand the history of a word) claim that the word “landscape” first came into the English language in the seventeenth century, from the Dutch word landschap as a type of painting, and these dictionaries define landscape as a static scene of rural fields, hills, forest and water—a portion of land that the eye can comprehend in a single view.

But the meaning of landscape is far more profound than that, and its origins are far older. “Landscape” didn’t come into the English language first in the seventeenth century; it was a word in Old English. “Landscape” associates a place with the people who live there—past and present. The Danish word landskab, the German landschaft, and the Old English landscipe combine two roots: land, meaning both a place and the people living there (think of earth, country, nation, land) and skabe and schaffen mean “to shape” in Danish and in German. Suffixes -skab and -schaft as in the English “-ship,” as in “friendship,” also mean associations, or partnerships. So landscape, then, is a partnership between people and place. The English language has no other word like it. “Environment” is not the same, nor is “place.” “Landscape” is a special word.

George Bouret

Graduation 2010

Graduation 2010

Landscape design and planning is the art of managing that partnership to fulfill human purpose and sustain the lives of all who dwell there—both the non-human and human.

Welcome to this wonderful endeavor. May you fulfill your ambitions and dreams, and may you cultivate the partnership of people and place.

First, literacy transforms the person who becomes literate.

Walter Ong said that “writing is a technology that restructures thought.” Once you have the ability to write, to reflect on what you have written, to back-track in time to revise it, how you think is transformed. Even two literate people talking to each other have conversations that are not structured like those of people who are not literate.

The quotes of A. D. Coleman come from “Items for an Agenda,” in Depth of Field, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998.

The distancing effect of writing is a good thing, according to Ong:

Faculty Remarks at Graduation For remarks from Planning Adjunct Mollie Babize and Director Paul Cawood Hellmund as well as more photos from graduation, visit www.csld.edu/context.htm.

Pamela White Sand

Revision Ken Byrne Humanities Professor For those of you who have observed the workings of the school from a distance, seeing only the final products and hearing, occasionally, from students in the throes of their work, you may have a certain conception of what goes on in someone’s head in the process of producing those final designs: After hours of staring at an empty page, there is a sudden flash of insight and The Solution pops fully realized to mind, with the designer chasing after it to record it before it is lost.

The process I believe is quite different. What tends to happen here is that something, some words, some lines, some shapes or colors, some scraps of incomplete information are put down on paper (or on screen). The designer then says something about it to someone else, and that person looks at it on paper and says something back to the designer. And the designer goes back and redoes it, or revises it, or changes it completely. And does it again. They come to question their initial proposition, propose to themselves another one, find distance from it enough to assess its value, test it against another idea.

Is this causation, or correlation? Is this a problem or a resource? Will this solution make things better or worse?

And so on.

So the model of design is less the flash of the sudden solution than the (much less dramatic) revision of the draft.

These actual ways of thinking associated with revising, some would say, are only possible with literacy, a topic which our graduation speaker Anne Spirn has written extensively about in the context of landscape. And so a few notes on literacy, textual and landscape literacy, which I think relate to the work that you do, and will do.

“By distancing thought, alienating it from its original habitat in sounded words, writing raises consciousness.

Alienation from a natural milieu can be good for us and indeed is in many ways essential for fuller human life. To live and to understand fully, we need not only proximity but also distance. This writing provides for, thereby accelerating the evolution of consciousness.”

This may seem a bit of a stretch, but consider a recent study that showed how becoming literate literally changes the physical structure of the brain. Last year, a study came out in the journal Nature, using MRIs to compare the brains of adult guerrilla fighters in Colombia who had fought for decades and had just recently re-entered the rest of society. Half had taken literacy courses, half hadn’t. Those who had learned to read and write had more white matter in the corpus callosum, and more anatomical connections between the left and right hemispheres. (If you read the article by Rachel Aviv about the decline of Braille in the New York Times in January, you’ve already heard about this study.)

Literacy of course is not only an individual marker. One can only be literate in the context of others who are or were literate. And literacy shapes thought at the broad social level as well as the individual. E. A. Havelock proposed that logic, rationality, philosophy as we know them emerged only when there was a system of writing and reading; that the Greeks’ alphabet gave them access to ways of thinking that led to modern science and other modern ways of thought.

And society-wide, only when a certain form of literacy spreads are certain society-wide effects possible; as when in Europe in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, literacy fundamentally transformed marketing, manufacturing, agriculture, economic life, political structures, religious thought, family, transportation, social mobility, and so on. We can think in our own time of how film literacy, the ability to read the grammar of moving images, has shaped individual thinking (for example, how you dream) and social practice. The question is: What new forms of literacy need to spread to help us individually and society-wide to think new thoughts and enact new possibilities?

Anne Spirn’s essay on the Mill Creek project in West Philadelphia, which she has been involved with for over

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Graduation 2010

Textual literacy involves the separation of the known and the knower. It encourages reflection and refinement of thought. It gives separation and distance. This allows an idea to be transmitted across time and space and as a result we are not beholden to the transmission of received truths or assumptions about how the world really works.

Similarly, landscape literacy involves a way of reading that can transcend familiar patterns of thought, and what is called common sense. It entails a kind of re-engineering of the way the individual thinks. If it can become widespread it can also reshape how the culture thinks, and what it thinks is possible.

Anne and her team helped middle school students understand the history that had shaped their familiar but unknown neighborhood. The students learned the habit of looking for important details, asking questions, and rationally proposing reasonable answers to their questions, and came to see that the problems in their neighborhood were not a result of the personal failures of its residents. As Anne writes, “To read this landscape is to understand that nothing stays the same, that catastrophic shifts and cumulative changes shape the present. It permits the reader to see what is not immediate. . . To read landscape is also to anticipate the possible, to envision, choose and shape the future: to see, for example, the connections between buried, sewered stream, vacant land and polluted river, and to imagine building a community while purifying its water.”

This is the other part of the analogy with text: textual literacy is reading and also writing; landscape literacy entails reading and also shaping the world. Analogies are never exact, though, and there is one interesting difference in the two literacies. We do not need to learn to read the landscape in order to write it. We can shape the landscape without ever understanding how to read it. We are accidentally writing it all the time, or are implicated in its writing, as it is shaped by others working in our name. (Speaking of new technologies that shape thought, I would urge you to look at the website ilovemountains. org. Enter your zip code and it shows you a map connecting the particular mountaintops in Appalachia that are being removed to supply your electricity power plants, with photos of the place and first-person stories of people who live and work nearby.)

What we have to do, then, is learn to read, in order to understand what we have already written.

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George Bouret

For those able to read them, there are traces in the Mill Creek landscape of seventeenth-century forest, eighteenth-century farms, and nineteenth-century industry.

In the 1880s, the Mill Creek was buried in a pipe and its floodplain filled in, though the valley bottom still functions like a floodplain. It still drains the stormwater and sewage from the area and from suburbs upstream.

The pipe is regularly overwhelmed; frequently sewage overflows into the streets. When the pipe breaks, streets cave in, and houses and apartments collapse. The outline of the buried creek is visible in aerials and maps, marked by empty lots and, in places, community gardens.

George Bouret

twenty years, surprisingly ends with a discussion of Myles Horton and Paolo Freire’s literacy work in the 1950s and 1960s, working with poor populations in the U.S. and Brazil. Teaching people to read is analogous, she says, to teaching people to read landscapes, and they are both projects of cultural politics.

Abrah Dresdale ’10

Gareth Crobsy ’10

Hopefully we have reached a point where we as a society have to decide if we want to become landscape literate or not. Should we just wait for a flash of insight, the Sudden Solution? Such as those who propose dropping a nuclear bomb to seal the BP oil well? Or get stuck in, look at what we have drafted; develop the distance from our knowledge to be able to assess it—and revise, revise, revise.

To the class of 2010, thank you for all your hard work, all your revisions, and all your sacrifices to be here. I hope you understand what you have to offer others. If you can help people to become landscape literate, to understand the stories of how their landscapes have become the way they are, you will have altered the structures of how we talk and even think. You will have restructured the corpus callosum of the culture.

And in the words of Paolo Freire’s newly literate: Each one teach one!

A N N UA L F UN D GOAL: $60,000

G ive Now !

“The Conway School hones the skills . . .of its graduate students against the rigors of the real world . . . while maintaining a deep ethical sense of the long-term needs of humanity and the planet.” ~ John Todd

www.csld.edu/donatenow.htm

Director’s Thoughts

Thoughts on Teaching Design “Ergs Don’t Float” or Why Doing Design Is the Best Way to Learn to Design Paul Cawood Hellmund It was my first college regatta as the parent of a new rower, and I was walking toward the board where race scores were being posted. Two rowers were bounding away from the board when I heard them say with considerable glee and almost in unison, “ergs don’t float!” I wasn’t sure what they meant. I knew the indoor equipment called ergs—or ergometers—were used to practice rowing, but I wasn’t sure why anyone would think such a thing needed to be evaluated for floatability.

I had to ask my son to help me unpack the rowers’ meaning. He explained that the rowers I had encountered were probably jubilant, because despite low erg scores they had rowed well on the water that day—perhaps even winning their race. Later I did some research. I read that “‘ergs don’t float’ is a good all-around coaching reminder that sometimes a great physical specimen of an athlete with stellar erg scores . . . is still ‘a boat stopper’ when it comes to moving the boat on the water,” according to Susan Saint Sing in The Eight: A Season in the Tradition of Harvard Crew.

Just as “ergs don’t float,” learning design theory in a traditional classroom doesn’t necessarily “float” a design project either. It’s something Conway founder Walt Cudnohufsky realized and responded to in starting the Conway School nearly forty years ago. He saw the tremendous power of learning from doing the real thing.

“Practice before theory,” he says to me. A knowledge of design theory alone—no matter how well articulated— can be a “boat stopper”—leading to an ineffective design effort. That’s why almost from day one of each term every Conway student is working on a real project for a real client.

Not only do Conway students work on real projects, but they are also in the driver’s seat in managing their projects. The faculty work side by side with students, advising them in the work and typically meeting with them several times a week. The student teams meet with clients, facilitate community meetings, conduct site investigations, and everything else it takes to produce a report or a plan set. After the first few days into a term, students know more about the clients, communities, and projects than the faculty. This shifts the student-faculty relationship toward something more like an apprenticeship. It also unleashes incredible energy, excitement, and attention to detail within the students.

This teaching strategy—analogous to moving a rower quickly to open and choppy water rather than sitting him or her on an erg in a temperature-controlled room—requires very different skills from that of the typical studio instructor. It also requires considerably more time for students and teachers to interact directly. That can work well at Conway because of the close working relationship that typically develops between students and teachers. It also helps that faculty meet with each other on an almost daily basis to review student progress and make adjustments in the schedule.

This kind of close teaching is demanding, but it is also highly successful. Every year at the fall formal presentations of the student projects—the first formal presentations of the year—in particular, I am amazed to see what the students have been able to learn and apply after just eight or nine weeks in school. That enhanced learning continues throughout the year on two team projects.

One student said: “I think the biggest thing that came out of all the team projects was the confidence to be able to handle any project size or scope and do so without actually seeing the end clearly in sight. Overcoming the frustration of not knowing what the heck we were doing at times and knowing somehow we were going to make it through. Magic happens in ways that are so unimaginable. And it happens time after time.” What that student had sensed is fundamental to a Conway education, where greater emphasis is placed on how to think problems through, rather than what to think.

Very near the end of my second year teaching at Conway I saw a prime example of this resilience in students. I was at a weekend gathering in my neighborhood, when I saw a reporter from the local paper. He asked how things were going at the school. As I was telling him about the interesting student projects underway that spring term and one in particular, a reuse plan for a former paper mill, he interrupted me to say, “They just had a fire there.” Dumbfounded, I ran home and telephoned members of the student team. Yes, they knew about the fire.

They have determined that no one was hurt. They were already making adjustments to their plan, due in another week or two. They were extremely calm about the whole thing. Only one building in the complex was lost, they said, and they were thinking the space might make a good courtyard. I was flabbergasted. What a professional attitude! What a buoyant Conway moment.

For more thoughts on this topic see: “The Obstacles are the Entrances,” a paper presented by the Conway faculty at the 2008 Symposium, Erasing Boundaries—Supporting Communities, at the City University of New York.

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Digital Portfolios and Other Ways of Sharing Publications While there is nothing like going into a job interview with an oversized portfolio filled with beautifully handdrawn plans, there certainly are many more portable, digital formats available today. Conway graduates and the school itself are making greater use of these useful, and typically free, options. With them, graduates are able to reach prospective employers or clients instantly with examples of their drawings and other graphics.

Increasingly, the Conway School is using these same means to share students’ reports and plan sets as well as the school’s catalog, con’text, and other publications with clients and prospective students. For examples, visit the school’s website (www.csld.edu) and click on “About us” and then “Publications.”

Here are some of the web-based tools the school currently uses: Issuu.com

Conway uses Issuu for convenient online viewing of documents available in Adobe’s portable document format (pdf). Issuu is an attractive way to share large pdfs and its ease of use means recipients are more likely to review a document than if it were attached to an email and the recipient were expected to download it before seeing it. Prospective Conway project clients find it convenient to review past reports and plan sets available through Issuu to get a sense of Conway’s student products, all without the school needing to mail or hand carry hardcopies.

Lulu.com

Starting in 2010, Conway gave students the option of producing final reports through Lulu.com, an ondemand, online book printer. With Lulu, students avoid the extra effort of making final report copies themselves and having to bind them. Costs are comparable to printing the reports in-house at the school. An added bonus is that reports can be made available online to clients or the public, and the school does not have to get involved in printing and mailing additional copies.

years, the school now makes a pdf available on our website for free downloading, and it can also be purchased as a hardcopy (at cost, $7.20) from MagCloud. MagCloud is a self-publishing web service from Hewlett-Packard.

With this arrangement, the school can easily make changes to the catalog’s content as necessary without waiting for a large, annual printing. The school is pleased to be able to make the catalog available in both digital and hardcopy formats.

Each of these three services can be used at no cost to post a portfolio or other publication.

Thank-You to Alum Volunteers Thank you to the following alums who generously volunteered their time to provide thoughtful and informed comments on the students’ plan sets for their fall residential scale projects: Barbara Briggs ’02 Joan Casey ’00 Seth Charde ’04 Clemence Corriveau ’02 Selina Lamb ’97 Sue Reed ’87 Christopher Rice ’95 Brian Tamulonis ’04 Cindy Tavernise ’99 Jenna Webster ’09 Lauren Wheeler ’03 If you are an alum and a design professional who would like to volunteer in this way, please email volunteer@csld.edu.

“If one judges an institution by the commitment, enthusiasm, and competence of its graduates, Conway must

A N N UA L F U N D GOAL: $60,000

rank among the very best to

Magcloud.com

be found anywhere.”

Rather than print several thousand copies of the school’s catalog each year as Conway has done for many

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G ive No w !

~ Randall Arendt

www.csld.edu/donatenow.htm

Student Projects

Students’ Projects 2009~2010 Questions of Design Each term, students grapple with a variety of design questions across a variety of scales. In 2009–2010, some of the questions were: how to revitalize aging town centers, how to bring cohesion to sprawling suburbs, how to produce food locally, how to create models regenerating degraded parklands. The following pages give some sense of the variety of answers and the significant research that informed those answers.

Q

How Can Aging Urban and Suburban Communities Be Made More Attractive and Vibrant?

In their work with communities, the student designers and planners at Conway are often asked how to make urban and suburban environments more cohesive. Working with the town of Winthrop just outside of Boston, one team recommended connecting disparate parts of the town through the revitalization of the network of walking, public transit, public-private space that characterized earlier, non-car-dependent communities. In the case of Hopkinton, one of Boston’s many bedroom communities, another team worked with the Downtown Revitalization Committee on specific recommendations to make the downtown a safer and more pleasant place that attracts more businesses and patrons and better serves as a center of community life. A third team’s plan for St. Anne’s Church and Rectory in Greenfield focuses on site-specific recommendations for new uses for a community center so that people can once again gather and celebrate.

Walk Winthrop: A Plan for a More Walkable and Bikeable Town Winthrop, Massachusetts Designers/Planners: Kerri Culhane, Jordan Fink, Tabitha Kaigle Winter 2010 The Winthrop Department of Public Works had noticed that several public projects were in the works that could be linked with remnants of railroad rights-of-way, public parks, and beaches to create a cohesive walking and biking trail system. Winthrop engaged the Conway School to work with the community to design such a network.

Winthrop’s location and qualities have made it attractive for human use for centuries. The peninsula has been a Native American encampment, a colonial farming community, an industrial center, a summer resort, and is a thriving year-round community today. Winthrop became densely developed in the early twentieth century, with railway lines into Boston easing the daily commute.

In the 2000 U.S. Census, Winthrop’s 1.64 square miles were home to 18,300 people, making it the second most densely settled town in Massachusetts.

Winthrop is blessed with significant urban wilds, fragments of natural ecosystems within its urban boundary.

The 241-acre Belle Isle Marsh is the largest remaining salt marsh in the Boston area. This and other marshes, beaches, and tidal flats provide vital ecological services like stormwater filtration, vegetative air filtering, and floodwater detainment.

The town’s often narrow, winding streets and densely built environment reflect an era when travel was accomplished by rail and foot. Rail lines designed to enable the best access to most of Winthrop resulted in long, linear, undeveloped sections of town. Much of this land remains in public ownership as rights-of-way, open space, and

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park. Many of the infrastructure elements put in place to support the railroad have found new roles in public projects and are actively maintained or are scheduled for future development.

Open space is dispersed throughout town, with major concentrations along the eastern half, including beaches, parks, and playing fields. Most of the town stands only nine feet above mean sea level, with minimally sloping terrain of less than five percent. There are no designated

determined during community meetings and via an online survey, were the starting points. These destinations fall into two main categories: urban wilds and public places. Better access to public transit was requested by many who completed the Walk Winthrop survey. Potential connections between destinations were drawn, mapped, and analyzed using community-driven criteria.

The result was the Winthrop System: the Winthrop Loop and Winthrop Spurs. The loop connects public open space, urban wilds, and other community resources in a circular route with cross connections, traversing roads with sidewalks and fragments of rights-of-way.

The spurs connect various peripheral destinations that are not reached by the loop, in places using fragments of rail rights-of-way.

Pedestrian paths through the marshes and beaches bring people into the urban wilds while respecting the ecological function of those places. Mixed-use paths through parks and between beaches offer scenic connection for different types of users travelling to business districts, schools, or commuter rail stations.

Bike lanes on major roads lead to two rail stations. A bike lane leads to Deer Island, allowing cyclists access to its many walking trails. Shared roadways follow major routes, giving commuter cyclists alternate routes to connect to bike lanes to the central business and civic district. Bicycle-preferred streets lead to many public places, parks, and urban wilds, and connect neighborhoods to bike lanes and shared roadways. Walk Winthrop articulates a community vision to create a safe, accessible, beautiful, clear, and ecologically sound walking and cycling network.

This section of a prototypical street features some of the recommendations in the toolkit.

Sidewalks are wide enough to be safe and accessible; street trees buffer pedestrians from the road; and bike lanes are clearly marked for safe cycling

bicycle lanes. Deficiencies in the current system of sidewalks and stairpaths include narrowness, obstructions, lack of ramps for wheelchair or stroller access, lack of street trees, lack of maintenance, and “disappearance� —when a sidewalk ends abruptly mid-block.

Community goals and criteria, user needs, and analyses of historical and existing conditions are the basis of the Walk Winthrop plan. Desirable destinations, which were

FALL PROJECTS | Conway students begin their year working with area clients on their residential or residential-scale properties. Projects may involve siting a new house or developing a landscape plan, reducing erosion, reorienting driveways, or making a property more habitable for wildlife. Through careful observation, students come to understand the relationships among natural systems. Although the focus is on a small area, the fall project is never simple. Students learn design principles through application of a problem-solving process.

This involves eliciting and interpreting client needs, developing a proposal for design services, analyzing and assessing site conditions, researching legal constraints, conceptualizing design solutions, and developing specific plans and recommendations.

WINTER PROJECTS | In the winter term, projects increase in scope and complexity and are undertaken by teams of students for public and nonprofit clients. Students identify and map natural resources and immerse themselves in local government issues, state regulations, and regional contexts. The long-range plans that result conserve fragile ecosystems and place human activities where the land can sustain them.

SPRING PROJECTS | Conway student teams spend the third term working with community and nonprofit clients to develop site-specific design plans for parks, town centers, and riverways. Students base recommendations on ecological conditions and on assessed community needs. Final designs illustrate foot and bike paths, planting choices, and other relevant details.

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Student Projects

Visions of Hopkinton: Steps Toward Downtown Revitalization Hopkinton, Massachusetts Designers/Planners: Gareth Crosby, Lily Jacobson, Kristin Thomas Winter 2010 By the 1840s, Hopkinton, some thirty miles west of Boston, was a major industrial center, producing shoes and cotton. A series of factory fires and a shift in industry westward saw the town transition back to agriculture towards the end of the nineteenth century. That transition and the hurricane of 1938 erased much of the historical

urbia—including walkable communities, public transit, nearby cultural and commercial amenities, and smaller homes.

If the town accommodates its population increase through its current growth model—low-density residential development spread throughout the town—then more of Hopkinton’s landscape will be transformed from rural open space to large houses on large lots, and other infrastructure, like expanded roads, will be needed to meet the demands of such development. In surveys and forums, the residents of Hopkinton have reported their biggest fear for their town is over-development and the loss of open space. Indeed, much of the rural landscape is at risk in Hopkinton; 3,450 acres of currently undeveloped land are privately owned with no deed restrictions or legal barriers to prevent development.

A different development track would build on the historical center of the town. It is the current lack of downtown vitality that the business and civic leaders of the town would like to reverse, restoring it to a mixed-use, vibrant community center and preparing it for the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century. Hopkinton’s Downtown Revitalization Committee and downtown business and property owners approached the Conway School to create a plan to make the downtown safer and more pleasant for walking and driving, a place that attracts more businesses and patrons and better serves as a center of community life.

Sketch of a pedestrian-friendly downtown with wide sidewalks, attractive building facades, places to sit, and trees to provide shade and soften the hardscape

architecture and structural fabric of the downtown, and the rise of the automobile and the construction, in 1967, of Interstate 495, four miles from the town center, further altered the social and physical structure of the town.

Today, Hopkinton is a suburban bedroom community for commuters working in Boston and a work destination for commuters from outside of town, largely traveling to an industrial park several miles from downtown. Many residents shop in commercial centers in other towns, and the downtown is perceived to be inconvenient, unsafe for pedestrians, and lacking in vitality.

At the same time, over the last twenty years, the population of Hopkinton has increased by over fifty percent from 9,000 to 14,000, and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council projects that the population of the town and other nearby suburbs will continue to grow; by 2030 the greater Boston area, from the city westward to the towns along I-495, can expect to add 465,000 new residents. The population is also aging, with many older residents likely to prefer alternatives to traditional sub-

Downtown Hopkinton is at the crossroads of two major regional roads. It is a mix of commercial, residential, municipal, and civic buildings, with little vegetation in the streetscape. Utility poles poke up through the deteriorating sidewalk, supporting snarls of overhead wires.

In residential areas the wide roads, the absence of street parking and pedestrians, the deep set-backs, and the open spaces between buildings do not signal that this area is part of a downtown, or indicate to vehicles speeding to and from I-495 to slow down. Fast-moving traffic is interrupted by cars pulling in and out of residential driveways; collisions occur often, especially at intersections.

In the more commercial sections of town, near the major intersection, new civic buildings are set far back from the street. A group of mostly single-story businesses, including a locally owned supermarket, a gas station, a package store, and a hardware store, make up the commercial center. Pedestrians face a protracted wait and long crosswalks to walk from one side of the street to the other. A few blocks of the town center flood during heavy rainstorms due to a combination of topography, impervious surfaces, and insufficient catch basins. This area feels exposed, with wide spaces between buildings, large setbacks, and many single-story buildings.

There is, however, one denser commercial district with more closely spaced one- and two-story buildings set

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and bioswales in widened sidewalks narrow the overly wide road. Raised and resurfaced crosswalks with bump-outs make crossings safer.

As more people choose to live downtown and travel by bicycle, bike lanes are added to the street. A farmer’s market, temporary ice rink, and other activities make use of the town common. The intersections of the main street and some primarily residential side streets are closed, increasing pedestrian safety. To further reduce curb cuts and interruptions in the sidewalks, businesses share driveways to common parking lots. As the population grows in the town center, new bus lines bring residents to regional commuter rail lines.

Overhead utility lines dominate views downtown

close to the sidewalk, and on-street parking. With its dense, mixed development, large windows displaying goods, and good places for sitting outside, this small stretch of Main Street feels personal and lively.

“Visions of Hopkinton: Steps Toward Downtown Revitalization” establishes design guidelines in response to community input and informed by the successes and failures of other communities attempting to create lively, safe, and sustainable downtowns. The guidelines correspond to project goals: economic development; safe and efficient pedestrian and vehicle movement; functioning infrastructure; attractive and engaging social spaces; and sustainable landscapes.

The report suggests that changes to the town’s streetscape, infrastructure, and social spaces take place in phases. In the first, pedestrian safety, traffic flow, aesthetics, and social spaces are improved at the level of streetscape alterations, including gateways to signal drivers that they are entering a town center; realigned sidewalks and traffic lanes on tree-lined streets to calm traffic and protect pedestrians; buried utility lines; and bioswales to infiltrate stormwater run-off and reduce flooding. Rain gardens, trees, turning lanes, and raised crosswalks at the major intersection help to create a distinct pedestrian-friendly downtown identity.

In the second phase, infill development is encouraged, bringing more residential units and businesses into the town center. Zoning is altered to accommodate a denser mixed-use downtown, with spaces between buildings now occupied, taller buildings better enclosing the streets, and additional types of housing, including condos and rental units above commercial properties, creating a more active social environment. Small pocket parks are connected to a perimeter greenway, following an old rail bed and linking to the existing Upper Charles Trail.

Vegetated medians on busy roads into town slow speeding cars before they reach downtown, and street trees

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In Hopkinton, as in many towns, changing demographic patterns and natural resource use suggest that old suburban models are no longer able to meet the needs of current and future communities. The 2010 downtown revitalization plan, based on the premise that patterns of growth can be the result of foresight and deliberate comA photo simulation shows that burying munity choices rather utility lines could improve the visual than the extension of streetscape of downtown existing development patterns, builds a vibrant, denser downtown on historical patterns of town developments to prepare for future challenges. It concludes that to conserve rural open space, build towns; to conserve resources, build livable town centers; to create mixed population communities, create the physical infrastructure that provides safety, good public/civic spaces, and healthy local economies.

The Courtyard at St. Anne’s: Church and Rectory Adaptive Reuse Turners Falls, Massachusetts Student Designer: Elena Rivera Fall 2009 Turners Falls was a thriving industrial town on the Connecticut River, its many mills powered by a canal.

The canal was part of a vision for a planned industrial community built around inexpensive hydro-power. The plan created a walkable street grid that included a wide commercial avenue located between in-town employee housing and the mill sites on an island between the canal and river.

Student Projects

Sun and shade composite analysis of St. Anne’s church and rectory (L to R: Summer, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.; Summer, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.; Fall & Spring, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.; Fall & Spring, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.)

The lovingly crafted St. Anne’s Church and Rectory, located between the mills and blocks of workers’ housing, was built in the late nineteenth century to serve the French Canadian population of recent arrivals. Following the Great Flood of 1936 and the Great Depression, many of the mills shut down, and jobs were lost. Since then, the town has struggled economically and has been designated an area of environmental justice concern due to its high unemployment.

The church, garage, and rectory buildings occupy close to half an acre

In recent years, an active artists’ community has participated in revitalizing the downtown, with new shops, restaurants, and performance venues in formerly vacant buildings. In 2005, as a result of declining population, St. Anne’s Church became one of those vacant buildings.

The owner would like to transform the property into the Montague Performing Arts Center, a participant in the revitalization of Turners Falls. He envisions a performance space with seating for seven hundred, two restaurants, two bars, an inn, and a space for outdoor weddings.

The design for the arts center’s sidewalk and courtyard cafés uses three terraces and ramps to create interesting, accessible, and efficient spaces; it takes advantage of site features to manage stormwater sustainably. Level one creates views to the neighboring park and beyond. Level two, the upper courtyard and entry, incorporates a delivery driveway; an existing, beautiful crabapple is kept. Level three, the lower courtyard, showcases the stage, a sitting wall, and dining under pergolas.

Integrated infiltration beds, a dry well, and a rain garden capture and infiltrate stormwater that passes over the permeable paving throughout the site. Vegetation is native and appropriate to the various challenging site conditions—from moist soils and full sun in the rain garden to shade under an existing large sugar maple on the sidewalk near the entrance.

The stage is visible from all areas; customers can sit and watch passers-by or find more secluded retreats; a combined entrance is easy to manage. The empty church and rectory becomes a site for socializing and celebrations, supports local musicians, provides jobs, and enlivens the street-life of Turners Falls.

Q

How Can a Town Encourage Local Agriculture?

A continuing concern among the students’ winter and spring-term clients is the feasibility of local food systems. As fuel prices climb, as the impacts of large-scale farming operations are better understood, and as the prices of globally produced food become less stable, clients are looking closer to home for ways to produce healthy foods that support their communities. The Northampton Food Security Group asked a Conway design team to investigate what it would take to develop a local food system. Their study was highlighted in an article by Mark Roessler “Learning How to Eat, Again.” It appeared in the February 17, 2011, edition of The Valley Advocate newspaper, Northampton, Massachusetts. Excerpts from the article are reprinted below.

Feed Northampton: First Steps Toward a Local Food System Northampton, Massachusetts Student Designers: Abrah Dresdale, Tom Jandernoa, Josiah Simpson, Michael Yoken Spring 2010 According to a report published last year by graduate students from the Conway School of Landscape Design, these days “an average meal can travel fifteen hundred miles and change hands half a dozen times before reaching the dinner table.” The report, Feed

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Along with methods for farming on small lots or rooftops, the authors also suggest reconsidering the use of public and corporate spaces now most commonly frequented by lawn mowers. Public schools, universities and corporations with large lawns or playing fields could begin cultivating them.

Northampton: First Steps Toward a Local Food System, was commissioned by a group of Northampton residents who wanted to know what it would take for their city to achieve “food security.”

Analyses of Northampton’s landscape drew on a wide range of perspectives

The members of the ad hoc Northampton Food Security Group wanted to know what it would take to unplug from this global food production system and create one that’s local. The resulting report is a meticulously researched document that is informative and fun to read, and offers ideas that are exciting to consider.

Free of apparent political agendas, [or] attribution of blame, the authors offer something that few governmentgenerated reports of this kind manage. Instead of stale statements that don’t inspire or antagonize anyone, Feed Northampton challenges the status quo and offers a cohesive vision of a future that is worth dreaming about.

The suggestions in the report often appear bold and free of cynicism. This forthrightness, explained Abrah Dresdale—who authored the report together with fellow students Tom Jandernoa, Josiah Simpson and Michael Yoken—came out of her and her colleagues’ Conway training.

Dividing Northampton into four basic areas—rural, suburban, urban and agricultural—the authors offer suggestions for how each region could maximize existing space to cultivate food. Each suggestion is supported with case studies and real-world examples, some from the city, others from further afield.

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Abrah Dresdale, left, one of the four authors of the Feed Northampton report, and Lisa Depiano, one of the local agriculture advocates who commissioned the report, take a break from co-teaching a class on permaculture

Mark Roessler

The current “global food system is dependent on fossil fuels. From the petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides needed, to the fuel running farming, processing, and packaging equipment, to the gasoline used for air, water, and ground transport, these nonrenewable resources are integral to every step.”

The report’s authors suggest the fairgrounds could potentially serve the residents of Northampton as “a mobile slaughterhouse; distribution warehouse including a walk-in refrigerator, produce aggregation and processing depot, and over-winter food storage; a community greenhouse for edible starts; and year-round farmers’ market.”

Since it was published last year, Feed Northampton has already inspired several municipalities and universities to ask the Conway School and the report’s authors about creating similar reports for their own localities. The report has also already had a significant impact on the Paradise City. Last month, the members of Grow Food Northampton (many of whom were part of the group that commissioned the report) managed to purchase 117 acres of farmland in Florence, where they will host at least one community farm and create many educational opportunities for residents who want to contribute to the city’s food security. ©2011 The Valley Advocate, excerpted by permission. The complete article can be read at: www.valleyadvocate.com/article. cfm?aid=13146. The report can be downloaded for free as a PDF from: www.issuu.com/abrahdresdale/docs/feed_northampton.

Q

How can models be created for protecting biodiversity and conserving native forest?

When working at a broad scale, students need to devise both principles and strategies to guide the client in making decisions that will ultimately repair and reclaim exploited lands, support sustainable practices, and conserve functioning ecosystems. In the case of Bosque Pehuén, a two thousand-acre private park in southern Chile, the team developed five principles and strategies to achieve those goals.

Student Projects

Bosque Pehuén: Protecting Biodiversity in Chile’s Native Forest Alto Palguín, Chile Student Designers: Kerri Culhane and Elena Rivera Spring 2010 Communities across Chile are recognizing the need to protect biodiversity from unsustainable and exploitative practices and to reclaim some of what has been lost. One family decided to develop a model for conserving private native forest and biodiversity in southern Chile, and to create a place for people to learn from such a model.

Water and Soil Conservation The accelerated rate of soil loss in the past four centuries of forestry and development in Chile has made erosion control one of the most important conservation priorities in the country.

Sustainable Site Planning and Design The forestry history of the land showed the devastating results of out-of-scale human impact on an ecosystem. Careful planning and design of human-use areas at Bosque Pehuén can helppeople live in harmony with their surroundings.

Experiential Education Private conservation properties can provide opportunities for conservation education through practical demonstration. For example, inviting the public to plant native trees as part of a reforestation demonstration can raise awareness of the importance of forest conservation and biodiversity protection in Chile.

Land Protection Official designation as an Àrea Protegida Privada (APP) or designation as a Natural Sanctuary would allow short-term conservation restrictions. Legal instruments, perhaps available in the near future, such as the enactment of the Ley de Derecho Real, would allow for the conservation of land in perpetuity.

The Renoval Zone is suitable for limited, sustainable harvesting of firewood or timber because of the nature of the forest composition: fast growing, non-threatened tree species.

Within the Renoval Zone, harvests should be undertaken in accordance with a sustainable forest management plan to ensure that the project goals of natural resource and biodiversity protection are upheld.

The analyses identify five distinct zones, the characteristics of which require different management strategies to support the vision, mission, and goals for Bosque Pehuén. The five zone designations—Primary Forest Conservation Zone, Renoval [regenerating forest] Zone, Development Zone, Roads and Trails Zone, and Streams Zone—reflect both existing land uses and proposed changes based on the conservation goals.

In the Streams Zone, forested riparian buffers, or buffers composed mainly of trees and understory growth, are most effective at stabilizing stream banks, filtering sediments, protecting against flooding, and improving aquatic habitat and wildlife habitat for forest animals.

Conservation Goals, Principles and Strategies

This report presents five key conservation principles in support of the project’s goals, along with strategies for applying the principles.

Forest and Biodiversity Conservation Forest conservation in novel ecosystems requires employing methods designed to restore the function of the forest, including providing habitat for native species and restoring valuable ecosystem functions.

Water and Soil Conservation Recommendation: Retain embankments along road and trail cuts with vegetation or log cribbing to keep soil in place. Steeper embankments may require a substantial log retaining wall. Less steep areas can be vegetated with quila or other native plants that root quickly.

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Other Community Projects 2009–2010 Botanical & Geological Garden, Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, Mass.

Gareth Crosby, Kate Snyder

Landscape Master Plan, National Graduate School of Quality Management (NGSQM), Falmouth, Mass.

Lily Jacobson, Tom Jandernoa

A forest garden, with layers of tall trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants with edible fruits or flowers, is proposed to provide food and edge habitat for wildlife, suppress weeds, enrich soil, and attract pollinating insects, and to serve as a learning space for the college’s new sustainable agriculture program. Natural stormwater management, including partially daylighting a stream, could improve ecosystems and water quality.

In support of a new program in environmental quality management, NGSQM will develop a 3.5-acre parcel as a living classroom and showcase for sustainability. This plan suggests ways the school can tell the story of the site’s evolution through the landscape: a native rose garden refers to the ornamental rose garden that was once in the same spot and offers an opportunity to explain the ecological importance and beauty of native vegetation.

Campground Master Plan, The Trustees of Reservations, Tully Lake Campground, Royalston, Mass.

Tabitha Kaigle, Jamie Scott, Kristin Thomas As Tully Lake Campground grows in popularity, the impacts of human use are keenly felt throughout the site. Replacing aging facilities with composting toilets will reduce the amount of water used in the campground and create a valuable nutrient source for proposed native plantings to help reduce erosion at shoreline campsites. Several sustainable land management practices are suggested for integration into overall campground operations.

Campus Plan, Springfield Museums, Springfield, Mass.

Abrah Dresdale, Elizabeth Cooper A grassy central quadrant and the Dr. Seuss garden draw visitors to the 5.5-acre Springfield Museums’ campus. The campus plan re-imagines the site as an oasis in an urban context: an open-air museum that incorporates sustainable practices such as stormwater management, alternative energy generation, and green roofs as part of an educational exhibit. A combined pedestrian street and outdoor gallery provide opportunities for community engagement with space for farmers’ markets and exhibits.

Davis St. School Administration Property Feasibility Study, Greenfield, Mass.

Annie Cox, Josiah Simpson A 1.9-acre property, home to a historical school building and established community garden in downtown Greenfield, is full of possibilities. The property feasibility study suggests a range of design alternatives for low, medium, and high-density development of the site, including maximizing solar potential with solar parking bays; incorporating a public gathering space; and treating stormwater on site with infiltration basins.

Green Housing Development, Acton, Mass.

Miles Connors, Jenny Watkins How does the quality of the water in the local watershed influence how buildings and septic systems are sited? Can enough rainwater be captured on site to support an edible landscape?

How might understanding the patterns of the surrounding neighborhood reduce the need for automobile use? These are just a few of the questions the team asked in developing a cohesive master plan for three housing lots on the site of a former apple orchard.

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Marshfield Open Space and Recreation Plan Update, Marshfield, Mass.

Annie Cox, Jamie Scott, Jenny Watkins A scenic, coastal town thirty miles southeast of Boston, Marshfield faces considerable development pressure. The update presents recommendations in a seven-year action plan, and a longterm vision for a greenway connecting the salt marshes, barrier dunes, and freshwater wetlands that are defining natural features of the town. The proposed greenway re-establishes a railway as a multi-use trail to connect residents with the town’s open spaces.

Master Plan & Streetscape, West Rutland, Vt. Kathy Connolly, Mary Praus A streetscape design plan emphasizes the historical context of the site, a broad, flat, half-mile stretch of Marble Street bisected by active train tracks and a canal built to manage stormwater. To add visual appeal, structural cohesiveness, and accessibility, the team proposes burying overhead power lines, and adding trees, vegetated swales, and street lights. Improvements to this key area will support the goal of town-wide revitalization.

Phillips-Lovdal Farm Preserve Land Management Plan, Southbury, Conn.

Kathy Connolly, Miles Connors, Elena Rivera Recommendations for this 155-acre site, emblematic of an agrarian landscape that dominated the town until a major highway bisected it, include protecting natural communities, supporting current and future agriculture, and improving access and circulation on the site. Maps developed by the team serve as the basis for future land management decisions regarding conservation, agricultural, and recreational uses.

Streetscape Plan, Hyannis, Mass.

Jordan Fink, Michael Yoken Many visitors pass through Hyannis on Route 132 on their way to other destinations—especially in summer, when the town’s population swells to six times its winter size. Impervious asphalt parking lots cover 23 acres of the 25-acre study site, a ¼ mile stretch of Route 132 between a mall and a shopping plaza. To define the area more clearly as a gateway to the cape, the student team looked to local ecological communities for inspiration.

Bird Fellowship

Modeling the Restoration of the Bamboo Walk, Summit Park, Panama Report from a 2009 David Bird International Fellow

Courtesy photo

Kyle Haley ’09 My goal as part of the 2009 David Bird International Fellowship was to address the challenges facing the area of Summit Park, Panama known as the Bamboo Walk and design and build any remediation of the area deemed appropriate. In doing so I aimed to mimic natural riparian corridors in Panama and create an environment that is ecologically sound, aesthetic, and educational to park visitors.

Approaching the Bamboo Walk from Kyle Haley ’09 works with reclaimed the most western bamboo at Panama’s Summit Park access road is aweinspiring. A forest of Aguadua angustifolia bamboo, reaching nearly sixty feet to the sky, bends slightly in over an ephemeral creek so that it resembles a grand chapel. The stream runs perpendicular to the road and beneath it through a concrete conduit. Connecting the two main service roads of the park, a concrete pedestrian path follows the creek deep into the bamboo forest. Walking the path is an adventure unlike any other area in the park. The temperature immediately decreases from stifling to bearable, and the smell of damp earth is intoxicating. The feathered sunlight within brings out the dark green of the bamboo culms and the chocolate-brown of the forest floor. Names of lovers and dates are etched into many of the bamboo culms like a timeline of those that have visited. Events outside the bamboo forest are no longer a concern.

As beautiful and serene as the Bamboo Walk is, it is not without the obvious signs of degradation. The bamboo forest is made up of primarily two non-native species: Aguadua angustifolia and Bambusa polymorpha. The combination of the clay soil and bamboo roots makes for an extremely hard-packed growing medium along the creek bed in the riparian corridor and is almost entirely void of vegetation. The lack of direct sunlight to the forest floor also limits the variety of vegetation that can thrive there. The creek is susceptible to occasional flooding during the rainy season and can rise nearly four feet in a half-hour storm. The banks of the creek therefore show signs of heavy erosion exposing a complicated network of bamboo roots. Additionally, visitors walk all along the stream bank further contributing to compaction and erosion. The concrete path is more of a sugges-

tion than an obvious cue to direction and protection.

These were the major factors I addressed in rehabilitating this degraded riparian corridor.

After making all initial analyses, I marked my focus area.

The project encompasses both sides of the stream starting at the entrance from the western access road and roughly two hundred yards into the Bamboo Walk. The main area of concern was between the concrete path and the stream. I also discovered that resources were limited and that, for the most part, I would be working solo.

My approach to the design process was not customary to Conway standards, but again, I believe the Conway School also taught me to adjust to the circumstances. I was pressed for time, and a pencil and sketchpad would have to suffice. Materials were my greatest challenge. The park housed a large nursery that proved very useful for a variety of species I was looking for. Other species were gathered from a volunteer’s home as well as along a new highway construction project that would have otherwise destroyed the plants. This new highway project proved useful as a source for stone material and wood debris as well. Scraps of rebar, abandoned, cured bamboo, and plenty of mulch were found near park’s maintenance buildings. The only items I purchased were rope and concrete.

I began my installation work at the entrance to the Bamboo Walk. Rebar, rope, and salvaged bamboo created a retaining wall on either side of the stream level along the access road. Backfilled with soil and mulch, the retaining wall was planted with two varieties of native bamboo, Phyllostachys aurea and Muhlenbergia spp. A ground cover of Calathea spp., collected from the park grounds, secured the soil. Although I had yet to experience such an event, evidence of violent flooding made me uncertain if this vegetated bed would last the week.

The riparian corridor between the stream and pedestrian path was the next challenge. Species needed not only to thrive in the shade, but also handle damp soils, occasional flooding, and five to six months of little to no precipitation. The vegetation was also the key to breaking up compacted soil and alleviating erosion. I needed an environment to mimic. I hiked up the stream outside of the park’s boundary into the protected Canal Zone to observe and make note of the vegetation and additional characteristics of a natural riparian corridor.

Concerned about the sudden, violent floods, I gathered large sections of hardwood from the park’s grounds, drilled holes in them, and secured them to the ground with rebar. I added large rocks and planted the area with mother-in-law’s tongue and Juncus. Several days later, the flood came fast and furious. Naturally, the current in the center of the stream roared uninterrupted, but the banks with the secured debris decreased the current’s velocity.

The water subsided and the vegetation, for the most part, remained. Another positive outcome was the deposition

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Bird Fellowship

of organic material, a building block for healthy soil.

After this successful trial, I was able to add more plants to contribute to and expand the natural-looking and functioning ecosystem: White ginger lily (Hedychium chorunarium) marks the entrance to the path followed by walking iris and native Juncus. Cyperaceae, Calathea spp., and mother-in-law’s tongue (snake plant) Sansevieria trifasciata grow beneath tall root spine palm (Cryosophila warsciewizii), yolillo palm (Raphia taedigera), and Panama hat palm (Carludovica palmata).

To address the foot-traffic issue I needed a fence that blended with the natural style of the design and discouraged visitors from walking through the new installation. I linked rope between thirteen bamboo posts spaced evenly along the pathway and secured in concrete. This element of the design not only protected the riparian corridor, but it also represented a functional use of this common cash crop. The last segment of the project focused on educating the public about the various uses of bamboo. Summit Park’s graphic designer Ivan Rodriguez and I created large flowers made from bamboo that were installed within the focus area to highlight the use of bamboo

as art. We also built a large bamboo marimba that we installed along the pathway that visitors could play to create music. Children and adults alike were invited to make the connection that this incredible plant that towers over their heads plays a role in creativity, beauty, and function.

The most violent rainstorm arrived two days before my departure. Within thirty minutes the stream rose four feet inundating the entire installation and well above the access road. Large tree limbs and debris came crashing through the bamboo. Filled with trepidation as the rain stopped and the water receded, I was thankful as the entire installation revealed itself intact and unharmed.

This fellowship was an unbelievable opportunity to combine the tools I gathered at Conway with my interest in design and build. I left Panama not only satisfied with my work and efforts but also grateful to my welcoming hosts at Summit Park. A successful project is one that is experienced by many, and I’m honored to have contributed. I give special thanks and appreciation to David Bird’s family and friends for making this possible. I know Summit Park and Panama thank you as well.

Third Annual Bird International Service Fellowship to be Awarded at Conway’s 2011 Commencement

W

e are pleased to announce that the third annual David Bird International Service Fellowship will be awarded at the Conway graduation on June 25, 2011 and that the Bird Fellow will be working in Bali, Indonesia.

The 2010–2011 David Bird Fellowship was awarded to Aran Wiener ’09 at the 2010 graduation ceremony. Dillon Sussman ’08 was selected as an alternate by the international selection panel. Aran, who also worked in Bali (see cover), says of his experience, “My original goal for the fellowship was to study various projects in Bali demonstrating sustainable design and planning and get involved in some service capacity. To

think that I would stumble upon this engaging project incorporating mapping, field analyses, interviews, research into the culture and agricultural traditions, and a final presentation to a receptive audience was far more than I imagined possible.”

Look for a full report from Aran in the next issue of con’text.

The David Bird Fellow will be assisting a small village in North Bali to develop aspects of an ongoing sustainability plan and will be able to choose one of several projects, such as microhydro, overall village planning, and waste management, to help in a hands-on manner upon arrival in the village.

The trip is being coordinated in Bali by Gove Depuy ’02, a Conway alum who is a resident of Bali and who has been working in this particular village for several years. The David Bird Fellow will receive a $5,000 stipend to help fund transportation, housing, food, and Bali project support.

Pamela White Sand

If you received a degree from Conway in any year between 2006 and 2010 or are a diploma candidate in the class of 2011, you are warmly invited to apply. Applications will be accepted until midnight, April 15, 2011. Please consult the Conway website for additional details: www.csld.edu/whatsnew.htm

Trustee Jonathon Ellison ’94, left, awarded the Bird Fellowship to Aran Wiener ’09 at graduation

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If you would like to make a contribution to the David Bird International Service Fellowship, please contact Lynn Barclay, development director, at (413) 369-4044, ext. 3, or barclay@csld.edu.

News from Alums

News from Alums Many of the firms and individuals mentioned in the News from Alums have websites. We regret that space does not allow us to include them in the News, but links to firms where Conway alums are prominently featured can be found at csld.edu. If your site is not listed there, we encourage you to contact the webmaster for inclusion. Links to further news about alums are also included on the Conway website. Note: Many of these notes came from the 2010 student survey.

1973 Class Agent: Edward Fuller (eafassoc@aol.com) Richard Thomas writes, “Still retired in Middleton, WI. Put enough solar panels on our roof to offset all our electrical usage.”

1974 Class Agent: Clarissa Rowe (clarissa.rowe@comcast.net) Floyd A. Thompson III, in Warrenton, VA, was the recipient of a 2010 American Recreation Coalition Legends Award for the USDA Forest Service.

The award honors Floyd’s 35 years as a public official committed to quality recreation management and planning leadership on public lands and in international work. Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and Tom Tidwell, the chief of the U.S. Forest Service, personally made remarks and presented awards at the USDA’s D.C. offices, in front of national partners of ARC. In personal news, Floyd notes, “My wife Linda and I had the joy of celebrating the marriage of our oldest daughter, Rebecca, to Josh Kohn in a lovely outside wedding in a park in the western ’burbs of Philadelphia. I have decided to retire from the national program leader job in the forest service on 12/31/10. I plan to contract professional sustainable recreation/tourism planning services in 2011 with public and private clients.” See also News

from Former Staff and Faculty for more about Floyd.

Somerville, MA, a very green community. Conway visitors welcomed!”

1975

1977

Class Agent: Betsy Corner (corner75@csld.edu)

Class Agent: David Paine (david_paine@verizon.net)

Betsy Corner writes, “I am still mediating with the Mediation and Training Collaborative. I joined the Colrain [MA] Planning Board and am trying to be more active with our community land trust.”

1976 Class Agent: Kathleen Knisely (kathleen.knisely@gmail.com) David Evans writes, “I continue to work as a consulting landscape architect and urban designer, serving publicagency clients. Recent work includes downtown revitalization strategies and built streets and public open space.

In 2009, project awards included an Award of Excellence in the Planning for Livable Communities category, from the Solano County Transportation Agency, for the City of Rio Vista’s Waterfront Specific Plan (Rio Vista, CA); and an American Main Street Award, for the City of Livermore’s First Street Improvement Project (Livermore, CA [where David lives]). Still living in the mountains just east of the San Francisco Bay Area.

It’s been an interesting learning period—constructing a home and learning how to live off the grid. I’m also expanding my computer skills and just built a website for my business. Now 34 years removed from Conway, I’m still excited about the work and thankful for the core principles I learned.”

• Kathleen Hogan Knisely is doing “not a darn thing,” she writes. “I am essentially retired. I have set up a studio in Central Square, Cambridge, MA, for wool-rug hooking, craft, and watercolor illustrations—a general playroom for me. I am an active trustee with the Cambridge Family Y, revamping our strategic master plan and planning the potential redevelopment of our parking lot for multiple-family housing. Just moved into a new loft in Davis Square,

1978 Class Agent: Susanna Adams (susanna.adams@earthlink.net)

1979 Class Agent: Lila Fendrick (team@fendrickdesign.com) Marcia Carey Caldwell reports, “Big changes this year and next, as my husband, Ken, and I have sold our home in Scottsdale, AZ and are looking to move abroad—visiting Costa Rica this month. Other possibilities may be Italy or Portugal! Ken’s job as a senior planner/landscape architect evaporated with the housing market. I am employed

by Marriott International.” • Donald Chamberlain writes from Seattle, WA, “September 2010 marks the one-year anniversary of going out on my own as a consultant after 18 years with the same employer. My role is to assist government, philanthropic, and nonprofit housing and service providers in their quest to prevent and end homelessness. I’m called on to assist in needs assessment and planning, bestpractice research and implementation, and political strategy and mobilization.

Very interesting and challenging work, with a core set of great clients! Life is good, and I have nothing to complain about.” • Arthur Collins, in Darien, CT, shares the good news that his business, Collins Enterprises, has expanded in this downturn. He adds, “Many new opportunities are available to continue to rebuild American cities.” On a personal note, he writes, “Donna and I have four children. One graduated from Trinity College, one is a senior at Dartmouth, one is a freshman at Ithaca, and one is a sophomore in high school. I spent many weeks sailing this summer in Maine and Buzzards Bay.” • See also class of ’83 for information about Don Walker.

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News from Alums

1980

Xi’an, China, initiating a center to train Waldorf teachers there.”

Class Agent: Byrne Kelly (kelly80@csld.edu) “This last year has been very challenging for many of us involved with realestate design and development,” writes Byrne H. Kelly from Takoma Park, MD. “As the owner of a backhoe, I was able to put my crew to work during the blizzards earning some coin for those who do not make much in the winter. I continue to design and build residential landscapes, as most of my commercial consulting and real-estate-development work has diminished. I was asked to design a courtyard for Rolling Terrace Elementary School, in Silver Spring, MD, which is now under gradual construction by volunteers under my supervision. The county school system has been an impediment to the process; for instance: ‘No plantings which attract bees (pollinators) shall be permitted.’ I suspect we owe the litigators and insurance companies of America a grain of gratitude for that rule. I am about to attend the ASLA annual conference here in D.C. and am looking forward to it. I am glad the Sustainable Sites Initiative now exists, something that Conway has been teaching since its inception. I am building more rain gardens and bioretention features into my jobs.”

1982 Class Agents: Suzanne Barclay (smbarclay@optonline.net), Susan Van Buren (vanburen82@csld.edu) John Hamilton continues in his role as the environmental planner for the City of Vista, CA. He notes, “Work efforts this past year included creating a Program Environmental Impact Report for the Downtown Vista Specific Plan, generating preliminary design concepts as a project team member for the Vista Inland Rail Trail, conducting a design review of a mixed-use project, and assisting the fire department in identifying fuel modification areas of city-owned property. In addition, I was a presenter on planning history and theory in San Diego, at the American Planning Association 2010 American Institute of Certified Planners exam-preparation workshop.” • “Sigh . . . nothing to report here,” says David Myers. “I have been among the voluntarily unemployed for three years—it’s called retirement! My wife, Sandy, and I have been happily married for 45 years.” When not at home in Moreno Valley, CA, David and his wife have had some opportunities to travel lately, “visiting family in VA (son Jeremy and family), MO (brother and family), and OR (San’s family).

Cancun is next! Both of us are enjoying good health and a nice home in SoCal. Our church (reformed Baptist) is Christcentered and filled with wonderful saints. What could possibly be better?”

1981

Mike Gibbons writes from Raleigh, NC, “The big news is that my team won the North Carolina super senior 6.5 combo state championship in tennis. My daughter Leslie started law school at Catholic University. My other daughters are finishing their degrees. I am taking classes at Wake Tech Community College, studying math and English; my goal is to go to law school in 2011. I have a contract to do some overseas work in South Africa, Mozambique, and Chile. Waiting on funding from Geneva to do CO2 remediation at coal-fired power plants. I have taken up surfing and am studying art.

I love the adventure I call my life.” • Robyn Jones reports, “I have a private practice as a massage and craniosacral therapist on Whidbey Island, WA, and in Seattle. I am also on the faculty of Sound Circle Teacher Training, a training center for Waldorf teachers.

This past summer I spent five weeks in

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Courtesy Peter Van Buren

Class Agent: Elizabeth French Fribush (Elizabeth.fribush@phra.com)

Peter and Susan Van Buren ’82 with daughters Adrienne and Melissa (who were 11 and 8 when Peter and Susan were at Conway)

• Peter Van Buren’s TerraLogos Energy Group in Baltimore, MD “continues to prosper and provide great satisfaction for Susan and me,” he writes. “For the second year in a row, the company was named Home Performance with Energy Star Contractor of the Year by the MD Energy Administration. We are also the top-performing contractor in our local

utility company’s Home Performance Incentive program. We are about to perform our thousandth energy audit in the next few weeks and have saved our customers over $3 million in energy costs. I was just elected to the national board of Efficiency First, the trade organization of Home Performance Contractors. Susan and I just celebrated our 24th year of marriage. We love the visits from our daughters and their families, especially our three grandchildren, ages 3, 6, and 11. We are truly a middle generation, with three out of four parents still gracing us with their company on the other end of the age spectrum. Actually, we mostly do the traveling, to grace them with our presence.”

1983 No class agent yet—would you like to volunteer?

Priscilla Davies Brennan writes, “My son, Will, graduated from high school in 2009, achieved his Eagle Scout, and was accepted at Moravian College. He returns there this fall as a sophomore and is studying industrial psychology (H.R.) and fine arts. My daughter, Erin, 17, is in her senior year of high school.

She studies voice and wants to pursue a speech pathology degree in college.

My husband Andrew and I are married 24 years. We continue to grow sweet corn (half an acre) and lots of vegetables. Our business is stable, though slow in this economy. We continue to be landscape contractors with fewer jobs and smaller budgets in this soft economy. However, we remain cautiously optimistic. Having joined Le Tip, a networking group of 72 members, I have gained quite a few new clients and a large network to draw from. I believe this is essential in this present market. I also continue to serve on my local township planning commission in Slatington, PA and chair the environmental advisory council. This year we’ve done a riparian cleanup, a rain-barrel workshop, and a computer and officesupply recycling collection, and we’ve built bathhouses!” • Phyllis Croce is going into her “sixteenth year (!)” with the Metropolitan Sewer District and last year installed two huge rain gardens at the main office, in downtown Louisville, KY. She adds, “The rest of the landscape is 99.99 percent native. Ten thousand more copies of the second edition of the Rain Garden Manual

News from Alums

were published two months ago. Still live in Jeffersonville, IN, across the river from Louisville, with my husband and six rescued pugs. I miss that northeast landscape.” • Timothy Taylor writes, “I established the firm GreenEngine, an environmental design/landscape architecture consultancy in Abu Dhabi, the UAE. The firm has three employees. The practice has secured work for the AD International Airport expansion, numerous villas, and a joint venture with three architectural firms, one in Dubai and the other two from Dallas, TX, for the purpose of working together in emerging markets. I have made many friends with several Emiratis in leadership roles.

The prospects for 2011 look bright. Onward and upward. I am pleased to have met in person the graduating class of 2010 at their graduation in June. Especially rewarding for me was to have had time with the Three Pillars of Conway: Don Walker ’79, Director, 1992-2005, Walt Cudnohufsky, Founder, Director 1972-1992, and Richard Williams, former humanities faculty. A private hour with Richard Williams reminded me that in a changing world there are unchanging values; Don was full of life and charm and wisdom; and Walt’s hug reminded me of his wonderful smile and character. Meeting Paul Hellmund for the first time left me with an enduring impression that Conway is in good hands.” • Peter Owens reports from Hanover, NH that he “was the lead author on a research paper (‘Smart Density: a more accurate method of measuring rural residential density for health-related research,’ in International Journal of Health Geographics 2010, 9:8) published in conjunction with our research project looking at the impact of the built environment on adolescent health. I joined ORW Landscape Architects & Planners in White River Junction, VT, in January as the director of urban design. Several interesting mixed-use redevelopment projects are under way. My nephew Edvin’s getting married in Sweden was an excuse to finally get my 75-year-old mother overseas. She won’t fly, never will, so we booked her, my stepdad, and our two kids on the Queen Mary 2. I flew over to meet them in Southampton.

We traveled for six weeks through Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, and England. Carolyn joined us for the last half. Wonderful lakes, saunas, gardens, urban life, and walking through the

countryside in the Cotswolds.” • Erik van Lennep writes, “Finished running year number two of the Irish national certificate course Sustainable Design Innovation, a master’s-level course for midcareer design professionals, which I have developed and refined at a local technical institute. On the back of this, I’ve assembled a five-person team to launch a new company that will provide entrepreneurs with training and flexible work space—a ‘school for change-makers,’ deeply rooted in design strategy, along with communications skills, innovation and creativity acceleration, and developing better self-knowledge.

The working name is Innovation Studio, and, initially, it will be located in Dublin, Ireland, but the intention is to define a prototype which can be taken internationally. So far, more than 14 countries have their eyes on us to see if it might work for them as well. Eventually, I will bring all of my various projects into the Innovation Studio, where I’ll be able to provide opportunities for action learning via internships. In July, we launched the Irish chapter of Living Buildings Initiative, which takes LEED and BREAM systems a quantum step further. I’ve also stirred up more local activity with a move to make my community in the city of Dublin more resilient, by launching a community gardening and food-security project. This is just getting moving, but enthusiasm is high. The city council is watching to see if we can develop a model for replication and adaptation to other areas, a ‘green engine’ to help power new job creation and citizenship engagement . . . along with good food. I’ve been consulting on the development of a farm that is associated with a small family-owned natural-foods store, to create a permaculture and health training facility, with a bit of agritourism potential. This too is being developed as a model for replication in a number of other countries, eventually to form an association of such ‘permaculture spas’ that can collaborate and learn from each other.

Attended the first European gathering for Bioneers in May, in the Netherlands.

I’ll be renewing my efforts to bring Bioneering (aka Living Technologies) to the forefront of Irish research as a new direction for industry.” For more news of Erik, see page 3.

1984 No class agent yet—would you like to volunteer?

Gary Bachman reports, “As a result of successfully submitting a grant application for federal funds, the Pima County Community and Economic Development was awarded $22 million for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

I became the program manager for the Pima Neighborhood Investment Partnership, the collaboration that was formed and that represents Pima County, the City of Tucson, AZ [where Gary lives], and seven nonprofit agencies. In addition, as a result of outreach from Paul Hellmund, I reconnected with the school, leading to a visit by Paul to our region [in August]. An exciting program for alums and students has been planned (see p. 3). I am also excited to have recruited Conway alum Elena Rivera ’10 to intern with our program.

Elena has impressed us with an endless array of skills.” As the Pima County community development and housing planner, Gary was also instrumental in generating political support and funding for an International Sonoran Desert Alliance project involving the reuse of the Curley School, a building in the National Register of Historic Places, shut down in the 1980s due to economic hardships and reopened in 2007 as a mixed-use development with affordable live/work rentals, classrooms, offices, a computer lab, and an indoor-outdoor auditorium. The public planning process for the Curley School was designated a Bright Ideas Initiative by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School. The Bright Ideas Initiative “[shines] a light on noteworthy and promising government programs and practices so that government leaders, public servants, and other individuals can learn about these ideas and adopt initiatives that work.” See also class of ’10 for more about Gary. • See also News from Former Staff and Faculty for information about Mollie Babize.

1985 No class agent yet—would you like to volunteer?

Ruth Cutler writes from Ashford, CT, “I retired from the UConn Cooperative Extension System, where I worked for the Coverts Project, a wildlife/forestry outreach program, and the GreenValley Institute as the land-trust outreach

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News from Alums

person, and where I taught the design section of the Master Gardener program. Currently working with some Master Gardeners and staff designing recreation areas for the residents of a psychiatric hospital. We have incorporated the desires and ideas of the kids to hopefully make their stay a happier and more productive time. Safety and budget limitations are demanding. Just closed on a small off-the-grid summer camp on an island in Maine. Will have the fun of identifying some rare plants and managing the land both for water quality and maintenance of those plant communities.” • Judy Zimicki Gianforte reports, “I continue to work three jobs: (1) as the projects manager for a local land trust that has protected over six percent of the land in our community, (2) as an outdoor educator for a Montessori elementary school in Syracuse, including during the first annual two-week summer camp, and (3) as a farmer’s wife and miller of organic whole grain flour” in Cazenovia, NY. “Never a dull moment!”

1986 No class agent yet—would you like to volunteer?

“I am currently serving in the Peace Corps in Ukraine as a community development consultant in the southwest of the country, near Romania,” writes Janet McLaughlin. “The rayon government I work with wants to promote tourism—in part because we have a beautiful historic fortress—and to work with the member communities in establishing model ordinances.

I’m hoping the latter will involve good process through community meetings.

I also work with the local agriculturaltechnical school and provide English conversation practice through a couple of clubs. It’s fascinating, exhausting, and ultimately worthwhile work—a great way to start retirement.” [Editor’s note: rayon is an administrative unit in some post-Soviet countries.]

1987 No class agent yet—would you like to volunteer?

Sue Reed reports from Shelburne, MA, “My new book, Energy-Wise Landscape Design, was published in April 2010 by New Society Publishers and seems to be getting quite a positive response. Sev-

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eral blogs that focus on sustainability, gardening, and landscape design have posted thoughtful reviews. Even more exciting, 30 accredited L.A. programs in the U.S. and Canada have expressed interest in considering the book for use in their curricula.”

1988 No class agent yet—would you like to volunteer?

See also class of ’89 for reference to Lib Tobey.

1989 No class agent yet—would you like to volunteer?

Jennifer A. Allcock reports that her civic involvement as the chair of Guilford’s conservation commission has included the adoption of low-impact development guidelines by the planning and zoning commission, and soon-tobe adopted conservation subdivision regulations. She adds, “Retirement beckons, and I will be relocating from Connecticut to Chester County, PA, before the end of this year.” • Michael Below passed the Landscape Architecture Registration Exam and is now a registered landscape architect in Indiana. • Ali Crolius writes, “It was the last thing I envisioned myself doing when I stumbled into Conway 22 years ago as a newlywed with no firm career plans, but I now run my own garden company in Amherst, MA. I run Artemis Garden Consultants out of my 1994 Toyota pickup and my postage-stamp front yard in the apartment complex where we’ve lived for 14 years. Artemis has about 15 clients, for whom we do a little design, but mostly maintenance— pruning, weeding, plant care, patio plants, mulching, and spring and fall cleanups. We do brush clearing using hand tools (no machines) and we are about to offer invasives control using goats—we just bought three females, who are making their way through a 100-foot-round patch of Rosa multiflora and bittersweet adjacent to one client’s barn. You laugh, but the goats-for-brush-removal model was written up in the business section of the Wall Street Journal as the hottest green trend! Artemis Garden Consultants is in its second season of hiring teenagers interested in gardening careers; they get hands-on training, do the heavy lifting, and make minimum wage. Randi Griffith [former humanities faculty]

always told me I should be a teacher, and working with the next generation is definitely the best part of my business.

Toughest learning curve: the constant demand to be organized, a step ahead of what needs to be done, always living in tomorrow in terms of planning for buying materials and making schedules, and keeping the books. It is relentless, and I’m trusting this aspect of self-employment will become second nature after more practice! Constantly being forced to study, research, answer clients’ questions, and make accurate diagnoses when plants are not doing well, and recommending the right plant for the right place is also very satisfying.

In short, I have to dust off my Conway skills daily and wish to God I’d paid attention when I was there because every single thing that Randi, Don, and Walt were talking about turns out to be vitally useful on each and every job.

On a personal note, Ezra is now 18 and left for college in August. He feels the same way about gardening and plants that I did when my mother, Lib Tobey ’88, dragged me around to nurseries all those years. ‘I’m going to garden when I’m middle-aged like you, Mom, but I’m not interested now.’ This was his declaration when he was 8, and he’s stayed true to his word. It’ll be fun to see the light dawn in about 25 years, when he realizes the truth of that saying, ‘When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, there’s always the garden.’” • “Although I have been on a professional sabbatical for the past six months,” writes Jim Urban, “I will be assuming a position I previously held in Oldham County, KY, as the director of planning and design services in January 2011. In the meantime I have been chosen as one of 120 ‘Louisville Connectors’ (out of 5,500 nominees). We are considered to be the people who continually work to improve physical, economic, and social conditions in the metro Louisville area. My daughter, Emily, is now 11 years old and in sixth grade. She is the best and most amazing person and keeps me young as a single dad. Emily is quite the writer and has had one of her poems published in a statewide magazine of poems and short stories.”

1990 Class Agent: Lauren Snyder Lautner (llautner@msn.com) Wendi Goldsmith’s Bioengineering Group, with offices in Salem, MA, New Orleans, LA, and Baton Rouge, LA, “has grown substantially and won

News from Alums

many accolades, not only for its stellar performance as a profitable, booming business, but for its leadership in sustainable design.” Wendi adds, “For the second time, one of our integrated ecology, engineering, and landscapedesign projects won the American Institute of Architects top-ten green award.

In addition to our water management and ecosystem restoration work, we are leading the Department of Defense research program for ultra-low energy facilities to devise solutions to allow military bases to achieve zero-netenergy performance by integrating efficiency and renewable power sources.”

• Janet Powers is “focused on family, permaculture at home, and dancing for joy” in Bedford, MA.

1993

1997

Class Agent: Amy Craig (amy.craig1@comcast.net)

Class Agent: Susan Crimmins (sbcrimm@crocker.com)

Michael Hylton developed a website and blog for his business, Tresala, LLC. He notes, “I have also been active with the Maui [HI] Master Gardener program (speakers bureau and advisory committee), the Maui Association of Landscape Professionals, and the Hali’imaile Community Garden (as the garden-council secretary and education chair). I also attended ESRI’s GIS user conference in San Diego and was an invitational participant at the five-day Maui Agricultural Design Conference.”

Sue Crimmins is re-educating herself in computer graphics at the local community college. “Learning the ins and outs of Adobe Design Suite and Photoshop for digital photography and print advertising,” she writes, adding that “we moved and have more room and a new address [in Williamsburg, MA].”

1991

Class Agent: Jonathon Ellison (ellison94@csld.edu)

Class Agent: Annette Schultz (schultz91@csld.edu) Kent Freed writes from Lakewood, CO, “Professionally, it’s been tough the last two years. Our workload and staff are down—although we have resumed some focused architectural hiring recently. We are holding steady at four landscape architects for now. Our daughter Sarah is again conducting coral reef research in the Comoros, toward her PhD. This time my wife, Tasha, has gone along, to look after our two-yearold grandson, Malcolm, for the sevenmonth trip. Unfortunately, I cannot join the adventure, due to work obligations, but will anxiously await reports while they are away.” • Nat Goodhue reports that in the past year, “in addition to design and development of trails and greenways, I prepared an open-space design for a residential neighborhood. I have found enjoyment organizing and participating on teams for cross-country running (Green Mountain Athletic Association) and ski-race series (Stowe Nordic Outdoor Club, tied for third out of 57 teams).” • Bill Montgomery is continuing as the president of the Land Trust of Danbury, CT.

1992 No class agent yet—would you like to volunteer?

John Saveson, in Florence, MA, writes, “I am now working in a residential energy-conservation program (MassSave), as a supervisor of energy auditors in the Pioneer Valley.”

1994

Melissa Mourkas writes from Sacramento, CA, “I switched gears earlier this year and now work as an environmental planner for the CA Energy Commission. Our unit prepares staff assessments of the environmental impacts of proposed new electrical plants under the guidelines of the CA Environmental Quality Act. My technical-expertise areas are cultural and visual resources and land-use studies. Like many other landscape architecture practices, my practice had dwindled to next to nothing in this economic downturn—thus the move in a new direction, energy. In 2009, I completed a cultural landscape report for the CA Historic Governor’s Mansion. This has already assisted the historic site’s staff in making decisions regarding the maintenance of the landscape. It is very rewarding to know that my work will provide the guidance for managing this historic landscape. Still traveling and camping in a Volkswagen Westfalia camper. My classmates will understand.”

1995 Class Agent: Art Collings (otter@mac.com) Art Collings continues as the vice president for land conservation at Dutchess Land Conservancy in Millbrook, NY.

1996

1998 Class Agent: Matthew Arnsberger (arnsberger@mindspring.com) Matthew Arnsberger is busy with his business, “applying ecological principles to residential landscapes” and performing “landscape design and installation in the Chapel Hill, NC, area.” The business also focuses on invasive plant control and deer-fence installations. Matthew reports that in the past year, “I have been a member of the Town of Carrboro environmental advisory board, rewrote Carrboro’s land-use-ordinances section restricting the use of invasive-exotic pest plants, and established a 5,000-square-foot veggie garden. My daughter is nine.” • Jim McGrath received his professional park-planning certification through the National Recreation and Park Association. He is now a CRRP, a certified park and recreation professional, and lives in Pittsfield, MA.

1999 Class Agent: Cindy Tavernise (tavernise99@csld.edu) Gwendolyn Nagy-Benson reports, “We moved to Weybridge, VT, last November. Andy is now the pastor of the Congregational Church of Middlebury.

We didn’t know until we got here that Gioia Kuss and Don live in Weybridge also. Their daughter, Larkin, and my daughter, Mary, have become fast friends. It’s been great catching up with the Kenney/Kuss family. By the way, we enjoyed seeing Gioia as Frau Schmidt in the community-theater production of The Sound of Music.” • See also class of ’08 for information about Seth Wilkinson.

Class Agent: Julia Plumb (jcplumb@verizon.net)

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News from Alums

Working with the Sustainable Sites Initiative

by Randy Marks ’09

T

he Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) has been called “LEED for the landscape.” Just as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) has driven the development of the green building industry, SITES is expected to push the implementation of energy efficient, water saving, and bioregion appropriate landscape design. June 2010 marked the beginning of a twoyear pilot program testing the usefulness of the system’s guidelines and benchmarks for defining what makes a site sustainable.

Jono Neiger and Paul Hellmund introduced SITES to our class beginning in 2008. It was an interesting concept fighting for mental space amidst the avalanche of interesting concepts encountered by us every week. I engaged with it more fully in the spring term, when Kate Benisek and I used the system as one of our tools in creating a landscape management plan for a condo development.

SITES became more immediately real for me a few months later. After moving to Oklahoma City, I heard of the Hope Crossing neighborhood development, being built by the Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity. Hope Crossing will have 217 singlefamily homes, all built to LEED Gold or Silver standards. I visited the development and was impressed by the houses and appalled by much of the landscape. For example, Bermuda grass lawns, each featuring a tree plunked down in the middle of the yard, surrounded each high quality, energy efficient, and healthy house. Residents, most of whom are first-time homeowners, were given classes in “proper” lawn care, which includes excessive watering, regular mowing with a gasoline-powered mower, and the application of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. It was a jarring contradiction.

I hatched a plan to redress the situation by trying to get Hope Crossing selected as one of the SITES pilot projects. I pitched the idea to Habitat and the Hope Crossing neighborhood association whose words were “go for it, but we can’t give you any money.” For some strange reason the lack of funding did not deter me. I wrote out a broad-brush plan with the help of team members Connie Scothorn, ASLA, and Allen Brown, AIA, filled out all the necessary paperwork, submitted the plan to SITES, and a few weeks later was notified that the Hope Crossing Sustainable Community Plan had been selected as one of 175 pilot projects from the U.S., Canada, Iceland, and Spain. Then we faced the fact we had no money.

As of this writing, we are waiting to hear if we will be awarded a grant that will enable the plan to be fully developed. If the grant request is denied, we may have to withdraw from the pilot program; however, one very important aspect of the plan will proceed. An education series, which begins in October with workshops in urban gardening and starting a food forest, has been funded by a grant from the Oklahoma City Office of Sustainability. Future classes include alternative lawn care, detaining/ retaining/using rainwater, and using native plants in home landscaping. Even if we don’t have the funds to do everything we want, we can perhaps teach residents how to create sustainable sites on their own.

2000 No class agent yet—would you like to volunteer?

Janet Curtis is the associate director of the Leading by Example Program, part of the MA Department of Energy Resources. Based in Boston, MA, the program works to reduce the overall environmental impacts of state government operations. • Leslie Dutton Jakobs became a certified MI Natural Shoreline Professional and moved to Chattanooga, TN, in August 2010. She writes, “I am just getting acquainted with my new surroundings. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of shoreline in TN.”

2001 Class Agents: Chuck Schnell (schnell01@csld.edu), Robin Simmen (simmen01@csld.edu) Jay Levine writes from Rhinebeck, NY,

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“I have started a company called the Hudson Valley Backyard Farm Company, which installs and maintains organic vegetable gardens at people’s homes.

I also teach food preservation and organic gardening, both for individual clients and groups. I’m also looking to work with businesses, churches, schools, condo developments, and other organizations to install gardens.

I’ve installed 11 gardens this year and am likely to install some more this fall.”

• “After seven years’ experience in landscape design/build firms,” writes Terry Marvel, “I started my own business, Terraforma LLC, in 2008, focusing on ecological site planning and landscape design. Things are off to a bit of a slow start, but I’ve had a few interesting, ecologically focused projects, including a woodland restoration for a conservation subdivision. Currently I am designing a seven-acre campus for a coalition of family-support, senior-

recreation, and child-care organizations that is committed to nurturing intergenerational relationships. At home in Random Lake, WI, I’ve started an organic garden and hope eventually to grow most of my own food—who knows, chickens and goats may be next.” • Aaron Schlechter reports, “I was reelected as a Conway trustee for another three-year term. I serve on the committee on trustees and am the chair of the campus planning committee. I am running for my third term as the CT director of the Society for Ecological Restoration’s New England chapter. I work for Amy S. Greene Environmental Consultants Inc. At end of 2009, my last BlueBelt project (Sweet Brook Watershed) received an Outstanding Project Award from the NYC Department of Design and Construction. It was completed 25 percent under budget. I am currently working on a $21 million BlueBelt and infrastructure project with

News from Alums

Georgia Jane Ganiaris, Alexander Ganiaris ’02’s daughter at three months

Alex Ganiaris

five best management practices and a large-scale weed-control effort in the Lemon Creek Watershed. Also, I am the prime landscape designer on a native-plant landscape plan at a watertreatment plant in Millburn, NJ. This spring, I became an International Society of Arboriculture certified arborist.

In December, my wife and I moved into a new home in Wilton, CT. On March 27, 2010, we welcomed our first child, Caleb Arthur Schlechter, 8 pounds, 20 inches. He is beautiful, charming, and growing so fast. On July 24, 2010, I kayaked across Long Island Sound as a pod co-leader as part of a fund-raiser for Kayak for a Cause. Finished in 3:20 and raised $1,250. This August we installed a direct-exchange geothermal heating and cooling system in our new home. Geez, I’ve been busy, but I actually feel like I need more to do.”

2002

Michael Cavanagh writes, “Ecotope Environmental Services (formerly Cleanscape Inc.) in Providence is a curious non-profit, owned by the South Providence Development Corp. and funded in part by the Urban League of RI. It is a unique combination of recycling, landscape architecture, and a new manufacturing division. I was hired in March to direct the Landscape Architecture and Construction division.” In addition, Michael continues to run Cavanagh Landscape Design LLC. He says, “It has been a busy and interesting year. Among other things, we have been building green roofs, and developing a trademarked recycling tote for compost collection.

The recycling tote (the M.O.R.P.H.) has some incredible upside and has stirred up business interest among restaurants and convention centers in our area as a means of lowering waste hauling weights and fees. To our knowledge, there is no comparable product on the market.” Michael reports that he and Sheri “have two teenage (!) girls and a five-year-old boy in the Waldorf education system in RI.” • Alexander Ganiaris reports from Oakland, CA, “I acquired a CA landscape contractors’ license, worked with CalTrans and a private company to convert a neglected

Courtesy Al Rossiter

No class agent yet—would you like to volunteer?

plot near a highwayexit ramp into a public walkway/minipark, and continue to do residential design, installation, and maintenance while working on getting more commercial clients. My wife and I had a baby girl on January 22, 2010— Georgia Jane Ganiaris! All happy and healthy. Paula continues to play piano in various performances, like Beach Blanket Babylon (a musical) and the De Young Museum concert series, and at other venues.”• Alma Hecht writes, “Thank goodness the client I designed and coordinated installation of a city garden for liked me so much that she asked me to stay on and remodel her house. I won a Best of Green Remodel award in 2008, and my house (and garden) in San Francisco, CA, has been featured in magazines/newspapers, so she knew I could do it. While swapping

Sonja Kenny, Selina Rossiter, and Elisabeth Reese Cadigan, all ’02, enjoy time with their respective children

out the kitchen windows, I discovered a light well. That I made into a garden with vertical edible wall plantings, a little water spill jar, potted plants on a carpet of remnant Astroturf. The space measures 7’ x 12’ and is alive with birds, bees, and butterflies constantly— plus, it’s the favorite private space of her daughter and friends. Sadly, I haven’t done a landscape design since the summer job for her, but have been in the landscape. I completed a planting redo, replacing basic Home Depot varieties with Bay Area natives. I was hired for a woodland remediation after a careless contractor’s concrete washout. Ten seconds of negligence equaled several days of cleanup, plus ongoing

monitoring. Have been utilizing my arborist’s skills, with lots of pruning and the ongoing care of gardens I have designed. Just coauthored a report to try to keep an amazing, unique ecotope, the ‘cloud forest’ of 80 acres that is in the heart of San Francisco, from the chain saws and then most probably the developers. Do have two projects in the maybe stage, so keep your fingers crossed. Life is good. I have a wonderful girlfriend of almost two years who is loads of fun and an extremely well-regarded aesthetic pruner—particularly of CA native trees and shrubs—as well as arboriculture/urban forestry instructor at Merritt College. When we aren’t off on an adventure, cooking something delicious, or swimming, we paddle esteros, creeks, and reservoirs in the inflatable kayak she got us. We’ll finish the summer out with a trip to the Sierras and to Abiquiu, NM, to visit good friends during open studios week.” • “I have loved working in the private and public sector in my own neighborhood,” reports Laurie Tanenbaum.

“It’s invigorating! Supporters hold a yearly spring plant sale to raise upkeep for the Paseo Prairie Garden that I designed five years ago. The sale grows each year and introduces people to native plants; it also gives me a chance to give out lots of advice, see past clients, and meet more of the community. Very good for business! This year we sold a narrow selection of organically grown vegetable starts for the first time. Next year it will be more. We’re still figuring out the best-selling plants, how many, and how many days to sell. The big sale is for Mother’s Day at the Paseo Prairie Garden. This year we added one day at the local farmer’s market to sell what was left and what I dug out of my own gardens. That was very successful and I saw more clients and met more people. The moving of plants, setting up, breaking down, is labor intensive, so it’s important to make sure people are willing to do the work before committing to too much. I also work with a parents’ group to create IL native gardens at a local school. This fall I’ll begin working with another parents’ group to spruce up a neighborhood park, and this winter, work on a design for a new garden at the children’s end of the park. I’ve become more assertive in encouraging clients to use permeable

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News from Alums

2003 Class Agent: Lauren Wheeler (lauren@naturalresourcesdesign.com) Madeleine Charney was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the U.S. Agricultural Information Network to attend the conference Agriculture Without Borders: Creating Knowledge and Partnerships Across Disciplines and Across the World, at Purdue University in May 2010. She reports, “We moved to a wonderful house on an acre of land in North Amherst, MA. Can you say gardening???” • William Joyce notes, “I have been mentoring under Isabelle Greene for the past seven years and have gained some very valuable experience and lessons in the art of landscape architecture. I have worked on jobs ranging from pro-bono student housing co-ops and Habitat for Humanity projects to multimillion-dollar high-end residential Malibu landscapes.

It’s been a whirlwind, but very FUN! Isabelle Greene and Associates Inc.

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has offered to make me a part of the company, which I have been thinking hard about for a year now. I’m now proud to say that I will be going out on my own and building a company in the near future! I will send the more formal news when all is up and running. My wife and I have been rebuilding from losing our house in the Santa Barbara, CA, fires. All is going very well! Nichole is working as a marine researcher on ocean acidification at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and I am concentrating on building my business and trying to survive this tough economy. The two dogs are great, and life in general is looking up!” • Heather NicholsCrowell reports, “We are living in Davis, CA, and I’m working for the Yolo County Resource Conservation District coordinating grant programs, designing restoration projects, and working

Courtesy Heather Nichols-Crowell

pavers for patios, walks, and driveways.

I always encourage lawn alternatives. It looks like I’ll replace a small front lawn and parkway with Carex pensylvanica this fall—something I’ve wanted to do, but it’s been a difficult time convincing people. The grass comes in flats of 38 plugs, somewhat labor intensive for planting, so costing more than laying a lawn, and for many people it’s too difficult seeing the long-term savings. I just keep plugging away. Growing food is a growing interest in Chicago overall.

Our land is full of lead and every other poison, so this has given me the opportunity to have fun designing raised vegetable beds. As in many other parts of the country, all over Chicago people are taking over vacant lots—some groups get permission, others just go ahead. There are surprise vegetable gardens, slowly growing prairies, all sorts of green and growing things. As the country falls apart at an ever more alarming rate, the guerilla movement to support neighborhoods with vegetable gardens and flowering green space is in full swing! Grandchildren! My oldest daughter, Cory, and her partner, Alicia, each had babies in 2009, just two months apart. Needless to say, Nick and I are craaazy in love, reminded of how our babies grew so fast, how babies are learning and accomplishing from the moment of birth. Nothing like it.”

Rowyn, daughter of Heather NicholsCrowell ’03, was born while Heather was a student at Conway

with landowners to implement conservation practices.”

Heather’s daughter Rowyn, born while Heather was a student at Conway, “is doing great. She loves stories. She will sit for hours if she is allowed and listen to books on tape. I attribute her attention span to all of the lectures she sat through in utero at CSLD!” • Joy Prescott continues to work at Stantec, an environmental consulting company.

She writes, “My focus has been on project management and permitting for proposed wind-power projects in ME. The siting of these projects has become fairly controversial, and it’s interesting to be involved in the issue from the inside. Continue to live in a cohousing neighborhood in Brunswick, ME, with my husband, a cabinetmaker with an ecological focus, and our two young boys, along with ten egg chickens and a big vegetable garden. I continue to serve on the Brunswick Conservation Commission, and we are currently in the process of working with various town organizations to plan for the closing of the Brunswick Naval Air Station.”

• Lauren Wheeler writes, “Currently I am still the lead designer and principal

of Natural Resources Design Inc. One of NRD’s residential projects was selected to be a SITES pilot project. Thankfully our firm has been able to stay entirely focused on ecologically friendly projects, even in this difficult economic climate. And I am very pleased to have accepted an adjunct professor position coordinating the George Washington University’s graduate program in sustainable landscapes, in addition to teaching two courses within the program. I absolutely love it!” Lauren traveled from her home in Washington, DC, to participate in the Conway Fall 2010 formal student project presentations as a critic.

2004 No class agent yet—would you like to volunteer?

See also News from Former Faculty and Staff for information about James Allison. • Kirsten Baringer writes, “Last fall, Steve and I sublet our apartment in Greenfield, MA, and left for a crosscountry trip (visiting Crystal Hitchings, Lupin Hill Hipp, and James Allison along the way). Once in CA, we sold our car and flew to Arequipa, Peru. We spent the next 6.5 months traveling and volunteering in Peru—best of all, finding friendships with several Peruvians we met and spent time with along the way. Due to a medical problem that is now resolved, we had to leave Peru five months earlier than planned. It was sad to leave with much left undone, but now that we have transitioned back, it’s good to be home. We hope to visit this magnificent country again, see friends, and continue the journey.”

• Joshua Clague reports from Nassau, NY that he is “continuing to work as a team member to develop management plans for large tracts of stateowned land in the Adirondacks” and that “last December, my wife Tracey and I welcomed our second child, Fiona Gwyneth Clague.” • “I’ve been getting a fairly steady flow of design clients, ranging from a new restaurant in Burlington, VT, to residential clients,” writes Lizabeth Moniz. “My teaching at the Yestermorrow Design Build School accounts for close to a third of the year, with different classes ranging from landscape design to natural building in Costa Rica and carpentry for women. More involvement with natural building has been in my cards

News from Alums

Record Number of Alums at Fall Formals

N

early thirty Conway alums—a record number—visited the school for the fall 2010 formal project presentations. They watched as this year’s class of eighteen students presented their work-in-progress on a wide range of projects, from residences to small farms to a town park. In between and after presentations, alums shared design ideas with the students. Brian Tamulonis ’04 and Lauren Wheeler ’03 served as critics over the two days.

Jay Levine ’01 mentioned he has been attending formal presentations since he graduated. Cindy Tavernise ’99 commented on how much she learns every time she comes.

Alums present on Saturday afternoon included, left to right: Jono Neiger ’03, Cyndy Fine ’09, Andrea Morris ’02, Jennifer Campbell ’07, Del Orloske ’05, Doug Guey-Lee ’08, Elizabeth Cooper ’10, Dave Nordstrom ’04, Mollie Babize ’84, Brian Tamulonis ’04, Miles Connors ’10, Art Collings ’95, Jay Levine ’01, and Chuck Schnell ’01.

Other alums in attendance included: Molly Babize ’84, Jennifer Campbell ’07, Art Collings ’95, Miles Connors ’10, Elizabeth Cooper ’10, Abrah Dresdale ’10, Cyndy Fine ’09, Sean Gaffney ’04, Doug Guey-Lee ’08, Dave Jacke ’84, Tom Jandernoa ’10, Tabitha Kaigle ’10, Andrea Morris ’02, Jono Neiger ’03, David Nordstrom ’04, Priscilla Novitt ’07, Del Orloske ’05, Sue Reed ’87, Chuck Schnell ’01, Josiah Simpson ’10, Kate Snyder ’10, Ginny Sullivan ’86, Tom Sullivan ’08, Kristin Thomas ’10, and Jenny Watkins ’10.

Consider attending this year’s spring project formal presentations on June 10, 2011.

Contact info@csld.edu for additional information.

this year. My most exciting recent news is that I had a backhoe at my place and started some earthwork that I have been envisioning for many years. I want to terrace and build some stone walls that will enable me to expand my food gardens. Food production has become a major focus in my landscape and life.

It is a dedicated time commitment.”

• Brian Tamulonis is a landscape contractor who owns New England Native Landscapes, which specializes in native plants, natural systems and habitat restoration. Brian traveled from North Reading, MA, to participate in the Conway Fall 2010 formal student project presentations as a critic.

2005 Class Agents: Linda Leduc (plantlady0@ charter.net), Sandy Ross (rosslandscapedesign@gmail.com) Shawn Callaghan reports, “Jaime and I moved back to CT to set up shop near both our families. I’m working as a senior planner at Fitzgerald & Halliday Inc., a planning and consulting firm in

Hartford. I truly enjoy my new position and have had the opportunity to work on some great projects already.

We just completed a high-speed rail project connecting NY to Montreal and Worcester to Boston. I recently developed a compensatory wetland-mitigation plan for the CT Department of Transportation, including enhancement, creation, and restoration. EarthView Design has also moved down to CT and is focused on creating wildlife habitat in the area. We are happy to be back in CT and are enjoying country living once again!” • Eric Korn opened GreenWorks Landscape Design, a design and consultation company located in southeastern PA, and got married on October 16, 2010. • Kristin Nelson writes from East Aurora, NY, “This past year, I have continued to volunteer with the Western NY Land Conservancy and help monitor property owned by the land conservancy and land under conservation easements.” • Del Orloske has been involved in wetland mitigation, from design to overseeing contractors.

He notes, “I have been working with

Lynn Barclay

Current student Karen Dunn said, “Thank you to all who participated in the fall presentations—critics and audience alike. Your experiences, comments, and support are invaluable. The Conway experience that keeps you coming back for more will be a special connection we will all share for a lifetime.”

Visiting members of the class of 2010 included, left to right, Kristin Thomas, Kate Snyder, Jenny Watkins, and Josiah Simpson

wetland scientists, engineers, architects, and town officials. And saving frogs and turtles. Awesome! Installed my organic vegetable garden this year at my home in Norwalk, CT. My wife, Patricia, completed her third year of art school at Grand Central Academy of Arts in NYC.” • “I continue to work for Foliaire Inc., a high-end company that offers interior and exterior plant maintenance, landscape design, and construction services,” writes Sasha Pilyavskiy.

“Our exterior department, where I am one of two designers/project managers, specializes in urban landscaping such as rooftop and courtyard gardens and green roofs. Some of our most prominent accounts are the Bulfinch house at 85 Mount Vernon Street, on Beacon Hill, the Executive Viewing Garden at Fidelity Investments, and the Hidden Courtyard Garden at Louisberg Square, which was part of the Beacon Hill garden tour this year. I continue to live at my apartment in Waltham, MA, which I share with my roommate, Tom, and my dog, Rico. My girlfriend, Ashley, who graduated from UMass

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News from Alums

Sandy Ross

Amherst in May, will be moving in with us this fall.” • Sandy Ross notes, “As a Northeast Organic Farming Association certified organic grower in Califon, NJ, I am raising organically managed (not yet certified) herbs, flowers, fruits, and vegetables and selling them to a local market as well as a restaurant. Hard work

A bumblebee visits Monarda fistulosa L. in Sandy Ross ’05’s garden

on an acre of land—keeps me young and agile! Also building stone old-style walls and doing lots of photography, including child portraits and equestrian work.” She was awarded a People’s Choice Award for Smart Growth Design in the 2010 Smart Growth Design and Reuse Competition (sponsored by the Valley Development Council in collaboration with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Western MA Chapter of the American Institute of Architects) for a multi-acre reuse design for a defunct paper mill located in the Palmer, MA village of Thorndike. • Johanna Stacy writes, “I am venturing into self-employment and have opened a landscape-design business, White Pine Landscape Design in Trenton, ME. It’s a slow start, but I installed a small memorial garden for a client, who was very happy with the results. It’s great to have free rein and return to applying the ideas encouraged at Conway.”

2006 Class Agents: Ian Hodgdon (ian.hodgdon@yahoo.com), Brian Trippe (trippe06@csld.edu) Adam Bossi is working as the conservation administrator for the Town of Wellesley, MA. He writes, “I am involved with many really cool projects that the town, state agencies, and local colleges have going on, such as the construction of a new $140 million high school, large-scale commercial redevelopment projects on the Charles River, and park-planning projects. I’ve just started getting involved with the

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town’s Fuller Brook Park Preservation Plan, a landscape-design and renovation project for a park originally designed by the Olmsted firm and Charles Manning. Pressley Associates is the main landscape architecture firm on the project, and they’ve been great to work with! Folks I coordinate with are also heavily involved with handling the Asian longhorn beetle infestation, so that’s been an interesting issue to watch develop. I’ve earned LEED AP certification in building design and construction in the past year and am starting to get more involved with major sustainability initiatives. Although Wellesley is great, I’m hoping to transition into the private sector to gain some new experience. I recently moved to Jamaica Plain and am eager to start exploring the awesome parks and open spaces around the area!” • Clare Bootle Rock was recently promoted to the position of senior planner at the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission in Montpelier, VT. She currently serves as the Montpelier Tree Board co-chair.

She reports, “In May, Mike and I had a little baby boy, Benjamin John. We’ve all been enjoying the summer, doing a little gardening, taking many walks, swimming at our favorite kettle pond, and watching the renovation of our new front porch.”

2007 Class Agents: Alicia Batista (batista07@csld.edu), Priscilla Novitt (novitt@csld.edu) Karen Chaffee writes, “In February, I accepted a position as the stewardship manager with the Boston [MA] Natural Areas Network. It has been a very busy and rewarding experience. I work with community gardeners throughout Boston to increase participation in gardens and guide them through the renovation process (we are currently renovating lots of gardens in the Dorchester neighborhood). We are also involved in acquiring more land for the city for gardens. I am responsible for a range of educational and volunteer programs, from a Master Urban Gardener’s home-landscaping course, to gardening workshops at libraries and public events, to restoration projects in ‘urban wild’ areas throughout the city.

Our most exciting project this season has been our Plant a Row for Haiti project, where we work with com-

munity gardeners and local farms associated with our affiliate, the Trustees of Reservations, to provide produce to two food pantries that serve Boston’s Haitian community. So far we have donated an estimated 2,850 pounds of produce since mid-July. I love my job and feel very lucky to have found the right fit.” • Kathy Connor reports that she has “settled into my position as assistant planner for the Town of Ipswich in MA. Due to tragic circumstances, my manager, who is the Director of Planning, suddenly left on a three-month leave of absence so I filled in for him while he was gone. In August, I was the surprised recipient of letters of commendation presented to me for my work both from the planning board and the board of selectmen as well as a standing ovation during the televised board of selectmen meeting! I went to the American Planning Association’s convention in New Orleans in April. What a great experience! Connected with other planners across the country, heard some great speakers, went on some thoughtprovoking mobile workshops and saw parts of New Orleans that most visitors don’t. My heart really went out to everyone in that area after the BP disaster occurred—they’ve been through so much already. My family is doing well. My husband’s daughter graduated from dental hygienist school in May.” • Priscilla Novitt and her husband Adam are producing honey in downtown Northampton, MA, where their apiary includes approximately 1 million bees. This fall, they completed a tandem bicycle ride from the source of the CT River to the sea; next up: riding along the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Trail from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington DC, and harvesting their first asparagus, rhubarb, and strawberries. • Nicko Rubin reports, “Planting lots of fruit trees in and around central Vermont, through East Hill Tree Farm in Plainfield, VT. Still learning rapidly about caring for trees, growing fruit, and building soil.

The peach trees seem to be thriving for a third summer here in zone four; perhaps there will be some fruit next year. The compost pile is hot and awesome.” • Annie Scott writes, “I’m working with the Schuylkill Project, a nonprofit that works to connect the community to the river, and on several design projects” in Philadelphia, PA.

News from Alums

unemployment downtime (which was quite nice, actually), and small design projects for family and friends, I am finally employed again—although in a completely different field. I guess I took a page from Thomas Edison’s book and grabbed at an opportunity dressed in overalls (actually, in a hard hat and safety glasses). I am now a maintenance planner for CertainTeed Gypsum, a drywall manufacturer. I think my organization and efficiency skills really come into play here, although I lack quite a bit of the mechanical and industry experience. I have joined the environmental pillar at the company and hope to effect positive change

Kevin Adams is currently in a landscape architecture and planning program down South. He writes, “I am considering urban food–related PhD topics.” • “I spent a year and a half in Southern California, working for a planning and design firm, doing mostly public outreach and facilitation,” writes Jesse Froehlich, now north of San Francisco in Fulton, CA. “I learned tons but decided to leave that job recently so that I can bring my work closer to the earth. I’m really taking some time with my next steps, so can’t say just yet exactly where that will bring me.” • Pamela Hurtado reports from Montagnola, Switzerland, “I was in Chile last month, and I went to Cauquenes. The city is showing signs of recovery after the earthquake. My husband and I met with the mayor and with the planningoffice executive. They had both read the Green Infrastructure book and they were very interested in building new bike trails and parks for the city. In addition, there is a new government law to expedite the process in rebuilding affected cities, and it seems that it is now possible to apply for funding, and new projects should get through all the application process much faster than before. We also contacted a Chilean foundation called Mi Parque and they

Pamela Hurtado ’08

A building in Cauquenes, Chile was damaged in the February 2010 earthquake, but the city is showing signs of recovery

are doing a wonderful job getting the local people involved in making community-built parks.”• Adrian Laine writes, “It’s been a year since my lay-off from Jones and Jones, and a tough year for anything landscape architect-y. I worked for a while doing landscape construction for a small design/build firm in Seattle, WA, until I broke my hand toward the beginning of this year. After lots of

Courtesy Amy Livingston

Class Agents: Doug Guey-Lee (gueylee08@csld.edu), Amy Livingston (livingston08@csld.edu), Theresa Sprague (sprague08@csld.edu)

trying to recommend particular soil amendments. Plus, I’m learning about a new way to assess the soil fertility by looking at the soil biology,” she says.

Amy went to the Soil Foodweb in OR last fall for a training on soil testing and, while there, had dinner with Doug Guey-Lee, his brother, and a friend from HI “at one of my favorite Southern comfort-food joints, Delta’s.

Mmm, catfish and hush puppies.” • Seth Pearsoll writes, “I recently left my position as designer/project manager with a small company in Philadelphia to take an exciting new position with the Groundswell Design Group in Princeton, NJ. The small, award-winning, multidisciplinary firm works along the East Coast and will be featured in the Philadelphia Flower Show this year.” • Theresa Sprague reports, “Since May 2009, I have been working with Seth Wilkinson ’99 of Wilkinson Ecological Design Inc. as a senior restoration designer” in Orleans, MA. Doug GueyLee has also been employed at the firm since the fall. • Andrew Weir’s garden was on the Northampton, MA, garden tour in July. In the past year, he joined the Northampton Planning Board and the Northampton Tree Committee, and he is now pursuing a dual master’s degree in landscape architecture and regional planning at UMass Amherst.

Amy Livingston ’08 with partner Reed Larsen and daughter Lidah Setenaya Larsen enjoy an afternoon at the Montague Bookmill

through the industrial manufacturing angle.

We’ll see!” • Amy Livingston just had a baby girl, born on September 5 at 7 a.m. Her name is Lidah Setenaya Larsen. Her family also moved to a small farmhouse on 30 acres in Pelham, MA. She says, “I invite all the East Coasters to our house if you are ever in the area. It’s lovely!!” Amy, along with Andrew Weir and Dillon Sussman, completed two projects as a team after graduating: one with the City of Peabody, where they drew up designs for a small pocket park for town planners to use to in fund-raising for a brownfields project, and one with the Town of Hawley, where they wanted to make an interpretive trail of the remaining stone foundations of Hawley’s first houses, taverns, and meeting house, located on Hawley’s first town commons. “The Town of Hawley had their grand opening of the trail just this past summer,” Amy reports. “It was amazing to see something actually completed.” In June of 2009, Amy began work for a landcare company in CT that provides tree, shrub, and lawn care free of chemicals and pesticides. Amy managed the enormous vermicomposter, made compost and compost tea, and managed the soil-testing lab. “Knowing the broader landscape of design and how to communicate with clients is useful when

2009 Class Agents: Kate Benisek (benisek09@csld.edu), Ashley Pelletier (pelletier09@csld.edu) From Montpelier, VT, Alex Hoffmeier reports, “Since graduating from Conway, I have been designing and building recreational trails with Timber and Stone LLC, based in central VT. Projects have included backcountry trails, boat portages, bike paths, trail-management plans, and ADA-accessible paths. Our clients range from land trusts to state agencies, private companies, munici-

Courtesy Alex Hoffmeier

2008

Alex Hoffmeier ’09 at work on a recreational trail in VT

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installed geothermal and totally new electrical and plumbing systems. I finally had a concentrated period of time during Labor Day to work on the yard and build a rock stair and walkway. We will be sodding with buffalo grass this fall and adding some Rhus glabra and other natives.” • Lucie Martin writes from Middlebury, IN, “I am practicing primarily residential design in northern IN and southwestern MI, with some very interesting sites along Lake Michigan, in the dune country. While not all my clients are interested in sustainable design as an overall approach to the site, I am using 95 percent or greater native plants. I also had a communitybased project working with students from an alternative school, installing a sustainable design on an old school turned low-income housing project. I loved working with these kids—two approached me about going on in the landscaping field. Starting my own business has been challenging, but there are days I can’t believe I get paid to do what I am doing. I hope to do LEED and green-roof certification over the winter.” • “I have settled into life in CO’s Roaring Fork Valley,” writes Sara Preston. “This spring I started Preston Earth LLC. The bulk of my work at the moment is in garden maintenance, with the exception of a few small design jobs. I am enjoying the physical work and learning a great deal about what grows in this high desert environment.

This winter I will be turning my attention to promoting the design side of the business and am looking forward to more time for drawing, reading, and research. On the personal side, I have been spending much of my free time exploring the mountains, doing yoga, and cooking vegetables from my little garden. The wildflowers in the high country were spectacular this season, due to above-average summer rainfall.

In July, we took a trip to Ouray and Silverton and spent three days at Ice Lake, exploring the high peaks that surround the lake and the most amazing wildflowers I have ever seen. Both towns are well worth visiting, and the ‘million dollar highway’ that connects them is incredible. They are currently working on some large restoration projects, with the hope of revegetating some of the larger mine-tailing piles that are contaminating the watershed.” • See also page 26 for news about Aran Wiener.

2010 Class Agents: Gareth Crosby (crosby10@csld.edu), Kristin Thomas (thomas10@csld.edu) Kathy Connolly writes, “I am currently doing an internship in bicycle-pedestrian master planning for the Town of Old Saybrook, CT. I am completing the requirements to be recertified as an organic land-care professional. My target completion date is January 2011.” • Miles Connors, his wife Dina, and their son Jadon have moved to Belmont, MA, and Miles has started a new position with Parterre Garden Services in Cambridge, MA. As field manager, he does design-build work for residential properties in Cambridge, as well as one 60-acre estate in Hopkinton. “I have been enjoying the work,” he reports, “a great balance of field work and design work. We are currently planting 81,000 bulbs in Hopkinton, many to naturalize and reduce lawn area (daffodils and scilla), and growing food on site for a large young family who are interested in sustainable approaches.“ • On August 14th Annie Cox and Ryan Moore exchanged vows of marriage outside at the Turkey Hill Farm in Cape Elizabeth, ME. The ceremony and celebration was shared with many 2010 alums, friends, and family. Annie also recently began work as the coastal training program

Jamie Scott ’10

palities, and private landowners. Timber and Stone specializes in trail design and construction, with an emphasis on conservation, ecology, and the creation of universal access to the natural world.”

• Brian Markey writes, “My ‘internship’ with Pioneer Valley Planning Commission turned into a job as an environmental land-use planner. I am drafting wind and solar bylaws for two towns in the region, and I worked to designate several communities as ‘green communities.’ I also have been developing a climate-change toolkit of measures that local planners and elected officials can use to prepare for and minimize climate change on the local level. I am glad to continue the tradition of hosting well-attended parties at my home in Springfield, MA. Several Conway alums from 2009 enjoyed a cookout and sleepover this spring to celebrate the Bird Fellowship talk given at Conway by Kyle Haley (see p. 25). Erik Johnson hosted Michael Blacketer, Jonathan Cooper, Keith Zaltzberg, and me for a two-day canoe trip down the Susquehanna in PA.” • Randy Marks writes, “I submitted a project proposal to the Sustainable Sites pilot program and was accepted. A major component of the project is an educational series in sustainable land use. The Office of Sustainability of Oklahoma City liked the series so much that they have adopted it as their own and are funding it through an ARRA grant. We also received another $25,000 grant as part of the educational component of the SITES project (see p. 32). I led a workshop in creating an edible forest garden. There were 42 participants who helped lay the groundwork for the garden on the grounds of a local nonprofit that is working to build a thriving community.

We will be expanding and developing the garden over the next two years and will try to get funding to train and pay local residents of this very depressed area to do regular maintenance. We will also conduct one or two workshops a month for the next 12 months. In addition to the SITES connection, this was also a project of our local Transition group and an ‘official’ 10/10/10 Work Party for 350.org. I like these stacked functions. Sharon and I bought a house in Oklahoma City, OK, that had been vacant (except for raccoons) for more than 30 years. It required a gut rehab.

Tearing out all the old plaster allowed us to use sprayed-foam insulation. We

Several members of the Class of 2010 helped Annie Cox celebrate her marriage to Ryan Moore in August. Front left to right, Michael Yoken, Jamie Scott, Kathy Connolly, Lily Jacobson, Annie Cox, Miles Connors; second row, Josiah Simpson, Jenny Watkins, Tom Jandernoa

associate at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. • “I got a job as an operations manager for a small design-build firm here in Athens, GA,” writes Gareth Crosby. “Our focus is on annual and perennial veggies. I will be taking a permaculture design course

Josiah Simpson ’10 and Abrah Dresdale ’10 speak about food systems at a recent conference in Orange, Mass.

about forming local food systems at the municipal level at the Farm, Field, and Forest conference in Orange, MA in September. • Lily Jacobson writes, “I spent September and October working on a project at Pine Ridge, the Lakota Indian reservation in SD. Bryan Deans, a Lakota rancher, is collaborating with permaculture designers from different parts of the country and has gotten underway a major permaculture education and prairie restoration demonstration site on his 8,000-acre ranch. The project is called OLCERI, Oglala Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative. The purpose of

Paul Cawood Hellmund

soon too!” • Kerri Culhane consults on community planning issues related to cultural and natural resources. She is currently at work on several projects in NYC on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, along the Bowery, and throughout the historic neighborhoods of Chinatown and Little Italy. She recently co-facilitated one in a series of community planning charrettes to develop way-finding systems in Chinatown and Little Italy sponsored by Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the unique

Genevieve Fraser

News from Alums

Kerri Culhane ’10 with husband Jason at home on the Hudson River

Lily Jacobson ’10 secures the walls of a straw bale building at Pine Ridge Lakota Indian Reservation

Courtesy photo

character and diversity of the Lower East Side. In collaboration with a large variety of community non-profits and cultural organizations, Kerri is working to stimulate economic development within the Chinatown and Little Italy neighborhoods through cultural programming. She expects to complete the National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Bowery Historic District in spring 2011, which will form the foundation for a planned interpretive signage project sponsored by the grassroots community organization Bowery Alliance of Neighbors. The historic district designation was undertaken to support the East Bowery Preservation Plan, a community-generated proposal to the city planning commission to enact zoning height restrictions to protect the low-rise character of this iconic street. When not in Manhattan, she is happy to be home with her carpenter husband, Jason, 200 miles up the Hudson River. • Abrah Dresdale recently started Feeding Landscapes, a sustainable landscape design and planning business in Greenfield, MA, specializing in edible landscapes and local food systems planning. She is also co-teaching a Permaculture Design Certificate course in Northampton, MA. Abrah and Josiah Simpson made a presentation

OLCERI is to show Lakota people and others how to build homes, grow food, catch rainwater, and take care of other urgent needs, cheaply and effectively, on the land and in the communities where they live. Pine Ridge is the poorest place in the country. Unemployment is around 85%. The climate is harsh, and in the poorly insulated 1970s trailers that most residents have for houses, people who cannot afford heat freeze to death each winter. Drinking water in many parts of the reservation is contaminated by arsenic and radioactive mining byproducts. Diabetes, heart disease, addiction, and other health problems affect Pine Ridge severely, and life expectancy is astonishingly low, 52 for women and 48 for men. At Pine Ridge and in other poor communities, sustainable design can be a matter of

life and death. I arrived at the ranch in the final few days of the second annual permaculture design course held there.

The students were incredible: a firefighter/Earthship builder/teacher of deaf people, a Sudanese doctor who works in Eritrean refugee camps, a Canadian mother-daughter pair who work in sustainable development in Africa, two Haitian men who I learned only after the course ended are directors of the country’s Ministry of the Environment, and a wonderful mix of other working people, young nomads, and students. Bryan, the rancher, was this year’s only Lakota student, apparently due to lack of outreach on the reservation, but several Lakota people took the course last year and hopefully more will in the future. The project that the other interns and I focused on in September and October was stacking and securing the walls of a huge—55’ x 65’—straw bale building, a future living space, office space, and winter work space. I was also involved in an earthen insulation project in a timber cabin, caring for the vegetable garden and homestead animals, long-term planning conversations, and administration and outreach for the organization.” Lily is now working in Monterey, CA, for a company focused on living architecture (including living walls and green roofs) and ecological design and restoration.• Mary Praus reports, “I recently began work as a land-use planner with the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, primarily focusing on regional hazard-mitigation planning. I am also pleased because this job means I can stay here in the happy valley and even walk to work!” • In late August, Elena Rivera moved temporarily to Tucson, AZ. As a Planning and Design Intern with Pima County’s Community Development and Neighborhood Stabilization Department, she’s been assisting Gary Bachman ’83, manager of a new program (Pima Neighborhood Investment Program, PNIP) based on a $22 million Neighborhood Stabilization Program-2 (NSP2) grant. NSP2 aims to stabilize neighborhoods hardest hit by foreclosures and abandonment through affordable housing and economic development. She helped set up their new offices and designed their business cards, PowerPoint template, and conference poster boards, and is working on their website content. Her

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News from Alums

Jamie Scott ’10

remaining projects, before moving back to Austin, TX before the end of the year, include helping create a Green Home Guide and developing residential site plan templates and guidelines for incorporating greywater and passive rainwater harvesting. Also, before returning to Austin, Elena will become a Certified Water Harvesting Practitioner through the Watershed Management Group. See also class of ’84 for more about Elena. • Jamie Scott writes, “The brilliant White Sands of New Mexico are not something you just ‘drive by.’

Jamie Scott ’10 passed through New Mexico on a cross-country move

September 1, I set off from Conway on a cross-country road trip to move to Sacramento, CA. I only stopped to sleep at night throughout the 3,700 mile drive; however, by the time I reached the Continental Divide I was compelled to pause, and explore. Within a geographically very small area, I was able to visit some of our nation’s most magnificent natural areas: Palo Duro, our nation’s second largest canyon; Saguaro National Park’s heroic saguaro cacti forests; Three Rivers Petroglyphs National Monument’s 50,000+ intriguing rock-drawings; and White Sands National Monument’s towering gypsum dunes. I’d like to share one of Edward Abbey’s quotes from a plaque at White Sands: ‘Anything that lives where it would seem that nothing could live, enduring extremes of heat and cold, sunlight and storm, parching aridity and sudden cloudbursts, among burnt rocks and shifting sand, any such creature, beast, bird or flower testifies to the grandeur and heroism inherent in all forms of life. Including the human. Even in us.’” • Kate Snyder writes, “I graduated from the program! In August, I started an internship with Franklin Regional Council of Governments as an assistant planner.” Kate and Jenny Watkins have formed a design firm, dirt + water design, based in Shelburne Falls, MA. The firm is dedicated to protecting

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water resources by developing sustainable stormwater and landscape management plans, focusing on stormwater catchment, greywater and alternative waste treatment, rain garden design, low-maintenance lawn replacement, gravity-fed landscape irrigation, edible landscapes, stormwater runoff filtration, and whole-systems design. • Kristin Thomas is a regional planner for the Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency. “I will be working,” she reports, “on making zoning referrals to communities within and without our region in regards to changes proposed to their zoning. I will also be working on an Incentive Housing Zone project, exploring where those zones can go in the city and writing the appropriate zoning to allow such development. I will also be working on developing a comprehensive complete streets plan for the region.” • Michael Yoken is consulting on the Greenroof Environmental Literacy Laboratory (GELL) project at Public School 41 in Greenwich Village, NYC. The roof will be an educational space for the students and teachers of PS 41 and other schools, in which both will learn and teach about sustainability first-hand in this living laboratory. The 15,000 sq. ft. space is the first project of this scope and type in NYC, and will be one of the largest municipal green roofs on a public school in NYC. He is excited about his role in facilitating planting design and curriculum development.

News from Former Faculty and Staff Jean Akers writes from Vancouver, WA, “Here’s a note about the extent of connections that can emanate from Conway. I am currently still working with Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Department, heading their park-planning section. In the last year, Conway-related contacts have come up in different ways, such as the following: our Americorps worker from last year’s project has stayed on with our parks department, working part-time on restoration and technical assistance projects, while also working part-time for James Allison ’04 with Portland’s BES watershed restoration work. Another example: our bistate trail-maps and regional-trail-planning efforts resulted in my crossing paths with Michael Linde, the division head of the National Park Service’s Rivers and Trails program, who spent many years in Con-

way, MA, and personally witnessed/experienced Walt’s ‘infamous’ open-space residential development. Finally, this weekend, during a board meeting of the National Association of Recreation Resource Planners, I met Floyd Thompson ’74, now at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He regaled me with stories about Walt and his Conway experience, and how its value has lasted throughout his many worldly endeavors. As the school continues to provide a value-added educational experience, its network of alums seems to reach beyond my expectations!” • Walter Cudnohufsky writes that he “is leading a blessed and fortunate life in current good health. Susan is making sure that we eat very well and live in a measured manner that includes walking and weekly workouts. I reached a birthday milestone this year and sailed right past. Have been gardening (great this year), painting avidly, exhibiting continuously, grandparenting, designing—a fairly busy office, with three Conway grads and interesting work—completing a book on design principles with Mollie Babize ’84, teaching design and watercolor, singing in hospice and world-music groups, plus other music regional events, traveling (Macedonia this past summer), getting involved with appropriate windpower and other local political issues.

Working to stop GM food and crops; down with Monsanto! Sealed up our 1771 home in Ashfield, MA, and finished a new roof—now snug! There is so much to learn and know and unfortunately to worry about. Always love calls and visits from graduates, colleagues, and friends.” • Maureen Buchanan Jones established her business, Writing Full Tilt, in 2004. She leads writing workshops and retreats and also edits book-length manuscripts. She is the executive director of Amherst Writers & Artists, an international nonprofit based in Amherst, MA, and has led workshops with women who have experienced domestic violence. Her poetry has been published in Peregrine, WriterAdvice, Equinox, North Dakota Quarterly, and Calyx, with a chapbook to be published soon; her novel is with the literary agency Writers House, and she is working on the second of the trilogy. • See also class of ’83 for information about Walt Cudnohufsky, Don Walker, and Richard Williams.

Fiscal Year 2010: July 1, 2009–June 30, 2010

2010

Annual Report

Conway School of Landscape Design

Jamie Scott ’10

Laura Rissolo ’11

Aran Wiener ’09

The Conway Mission

Ecological Design

Priscilla Novitt ’07 Laura Rissolo ’11

There has never been a greater need to protect our planet’s natural and cultural resources. In response, the Conway School of Landscape Design in fiscal year 2010 combined its historical dedication to ecological design with increasingly innovative curriculum and demanding student projects.

The school continued to strengthen instruction through its core faculty, master teachers, and extensive array of weekly visitors, who are experts in many fields. Using its trademark apprenticeship model of real-life projects for real-life clients, Conway found challenging ways to involve students and alums in sustainable planning and design issues serving communities in New England and far beyond.

“Ecological design is both a profoundly hopeful vision and a pragmatic tool.

By placing ecology in the foreground of design, it provides specific ways of minimizing energy and materials use, reducing pollution, preserving habitat, and fostering community, health and beauty.” ~From Ecological Design by Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan (1996) Ecological design embraces both conservation and regenerative design and requires great creativity and concern for stewardship. Thus, Conway has begun to visualize its mission and work in these vital areas of focus:

Conservation Focus

The Conway School prepares graduate students to be planners and designers of significant aspects of nature, farmland, and historical resources. This conservation focus leads to students and graduates becoming engaged in projects that will: •

conserve land

•

promote biodiversity

•

protect water quality

•

preserve wetlands

•

re-localize food systems

Regenerative Design Focus

Conway students and graduates are repairing damaged lands, waters, and communities, and finding ways to sustain them. This regenerative design focus leads to students and graduates becoming engaged in projects that will: •

restore and manage habitat

•

foster walkable cities

•

redevelop brownfields

• promote low impact development •

improve energy efficiency

International Scope

As landscapes everywhere are undergoing dramatic transformations, Conway has become increasingly international in scope. This extends to the Conway student body, students’

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Students from Alaska California Connecticut Hawaii Maine Massachusetts New Jersey New York North Carolina Vermont Virginia Washington Mexico Morocco

Speakers about

Fellows Placed in

Ghana Kenya Panama Niger

Bali Panama

Projects in New England Arizona Chile Panama Tuscany

Alums at Work in Bali Bangladesh Canada Haiti Ireland United Arab Emirates

Jamie Scott ’10

and alums’ projects, and fellowship placements. The last two years have seen Conway’s reach span the globe:

Instruction occurred in a small, intimate, and supportive environment. There was an unambiguous emphasis on ecological and social responsibility, oral and written communication skills, and project management. A rigorous process of site analysis and whole-systems thinking informed students’ work on real projects for real clients.

Classes were taught by faculty with current or recent professional experience outside the classroom.

The school enhanced instruction in ecology, appointing Elizabeth Farnsworth as conservation biology adjunct and Glenn Motzkin as master teacher in ecology, supplementing the contributions of long-time ecology adjunct Bill Lattrell. New digital design tools were taught and used extensively to meet the demands of today’s world, where graduates need those skills to apply for jobs in almost any design field.

Since its inception in 1972, Conway has invited professionals to speak with students about topics spanning many fields. During the 2009–2010 school year, this group of almost sixty master teachers and guest speakers covered such topics as: urbanism, sustainability and resilience; design for ecological democracy; watershed management practices; trail design and construction; liberation ecology; landforms and geology; energy-wise landscape design; reading the forested landscape; and environmental planning and urban design. These guests also supplemented core instruction in natural sciences, technical skills, legal regulations, graphic and verbal expression, and professional ethics.

Serving Students Serving Alums Serving Communities Accomplishments in FY 2010

SERVING STUDENTS Student Projects

The Class of 2010

The Conway School experienced its third year in a row of full enrollment in FY 2010. Nineteen graduate students arrived at Conway in September 2009, eager to put their personal values into positive action for the natural world during the school year and afterward. They represented a wide range of age, experience, and interests, and some came with advanced degrees—in forestry, architectural history, chemical engineering, and business. The closest came from twenty minutes away; the furthest, from Portland, Oregon.

Curriculum

During the 2009–2010 school year, Conway continued its unique and proven approach, offering an integrated curriculum where classes complement design practice.

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Jamie Scott ’10

“I know of no other design school that prepares its students so meaningfully to be effective advocates for decisions and actions that lead to environmentally sustainable outcomes.” ~Wendi Goldsmith ’90, President, The Bioengineering Group, Inc., Salem, Massachusetts

A founding principle and a proven, powerful educational model of the Conway School is to put students to work for real clients on real projects.

Clients pay for the work, providing a source of income to the school; faculty guides the work, under an apprenticeship approach; and students are motivated by clients’ expectations to produce professional results.

Students at the Conway School focused their fall-term studies on residential projects designed to provide for human needs while increasing biodiversity and ecosystem health. The winter term’s regional planning projects included a downtown master plan, a land management plan for a piece of property in conservation, a greenway plan, and an especially timely new undertaking for Conway, a food security plan for a city of twenty-eight thousand people. The class of 2010 spent the spring term

A N N U A L diligently and creatively developing alternative designs for projects ranging from greening massive big-box parking lots on Cape Cod to envisioning the sustainable management of a scenic property at the base of a volcano in Chile.

Resources

The school has put increased emphasis on technology in recent years to assist applicants, students, staff, alums, and the board of trustees. This emphasis includes: • new computer hardware (scanners and plotters— some donated) for students to integrate manual and digital design approaches • digital survey equipment and complementary computer software for processing survey data for student projects • extensive internet and intranet environments for communication, document-sharing, specifically purposed websites, project management, and teleconferencing • Conway Academic Program Catalog available online

Jamie Scott ’10

Meanwhile, the school maintains and has enhanced its print library, with a generous gift of volumes this year from Pam Art, President of Storey Publishing, spouse of a Conway board member.

Graduation

In June 2010, after ten intense months of study and action, all nineteen students of the class of 2010 were granted the degree of Master of Arts in Landscape Design. The class selected Anne Whiston Spirn, professor of landscape architecture and planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as its commencement speaker.

The school presented her with an honorary degree for her considerable accomplishments as a landscape architect, author, photographer, teacher, and scholar.

In May, students, faculty, and trustees presented an honorary degree to Jill Ker Conway for her many contributions as a writer, educator, and historian committed to conservation and sustainability. A long-time friend of the school, she has said of the school: “The Conway School aims to teach its students how to bring the needs of human communities into harmonious relationship with the needs of natural environments.”

SERVING ALUMS Connecting Alums

The Conway approach has always been applied to a small student body; each class contains no more than

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nineteen students. Founded in 1972, this brings the current number of alums to 580. While the number is small, the impact is large! Graduates keep the school informed about their work and accomplishments around the world, return as master teachers and speakers, serve as critics at end-of-term formal presentations, share books they have written, give financial support, and serve on the board of trustees.

The school launched a Careers Website in February 2009, available only to Conway alums. Since that time, almost seven hundred posts of jobs, internships, fellowships, workshops, and grants have been added.

Conway has 102 members in its LinkedIn group, an online networking and resource group for alums, students, board members, staff, and faculty who are interested in building professional networks. On Facebook, 121 people have marked that they “like” the Conway School.

David Bird International Fellowship

This year saw the start of Conway’s first David Bird International Service Fellowship. One or two alums are chosen to complete an ecological design project as an international fellow of the Conway School. In fiscal year 2010, two fellows were chosen and spent six weeks at Panama’s Summit Park. One designed and implemented a riparian garden in the park’s prized bamboo collection; the other redesigned the park’s entrance and implemented a demonstration garden using native plants.

At Conway’s 2010 commencement ceremony, the second David Bird International Service Fellowship was awarded, with Bali chosen as the new destination. A Conway alum in Bali, actively involved in sustainable landscape planning there, was slated to serve as the host for the FY 2011 Bird fellow. (Watch for the next issue of con’text for details of the 2011 fellowship.)

Service Learning Trips for Alums

In 2011, Conway will sponsor another service learning trip, bringing alums to Ajo, Arizona, as part of the school’s new partnership with the International Sonoran Desert Alliance. Alums will help identify future projects for students on issues such as food security, site design, open space planning, urban design, and economic revitalization.

SERVING COMMUNITIES Community-Based Projects

Each year, Conway students apply an extensive array of knowledge and skills to projects that help to protect the landscape and natural resources in our communities.

Some communities that benefited this year include: • Northampton, Massachusetts—Students completed both a citywide food security plan and a feasibility study for preserving a piece of historic farmland. The

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community has since organized a major initiative that is turning this piece of land into a comprehensive organic community farm and education center.

•

Springfield, Massachusetts—A team of students created a visionary landscape master plan to be integrated into the existing Springfield Museums complex. Components included green roofs; environmentally sustainable practices for water use, recycling and plantings; urban community gardens; and an outdoor performance space.

•

Alto Palguín, Chile—Conway applied its distinctive approach to protect the biodiversity of primary native forest in Bosque Pehuén. The student team delineated five management zones and presented key conserva- tion principles and strategies to guide the steward- ship of this two thousand-acre protected area in Southern Chile.

Community Connections

Conway has always sought to bring its message to the broader community. This year, the school co-sponsored a free, well-attended public lecture by Randall Arendt, one of the country’s leading authorities on conservation planning, at the LEED-certified Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster, Massachusetts. Co-sponsors included The Trustees of Reservations, North County Land Trust, and Leominster Land Trust.

The Conway School made its on-air debut in November 2009 with a segment on “Making It Here,” a western Massachusetts public television show.

The Conway School is thriving! After almost four decades, its innovative approach to teaching continues to inspire its students while its reach is growing exponentially. The school enjoys full enrollment, financial health, an engaged board of trustees, and respect within the field of ecological planning and design.

Faculty

Conway’s configuration of two full-time and seven part-time faculty represents an exceptional teacher-student ratio, allowing for an extraordinary level of individual guidance and support for students. Excellence in instruction is upheld through the faculty’s advanced degrees, practical professional experience, expertise in specific areas, and shared commitment to presenting an interrelated whole-systems approach.

Accreditation

During the 2009–2010 academic year, the Conway School underwent its scheduled interim five-year accreditation review, which was approved with a note of commendation by Conway’s accrediting authority, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Board of Trustees

Publications

Conway’s fifteen trustees have shown a deep commitment to the school, including one hundred percent participation in annual giving. Recent additions bring more diverse trustee backgrounds to the board, and new trustees are coming from greater distances than in previous years: Baltimore, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Quebec.

Conway sent the Winter 2010 issue of con’text magazine to almost twenty-one hundred friends and contacts, representing a seventy percent increase in circulation over two years.

Strategic Plan Conway publications on Issuu.com

Conway Currents, a monthly eNewsletter, is sent to over twelve hundred friends.

The school publishes its print materials and selected student materials on Issuu, an online publishing format (see http://issuu.com/conwaydesign).

A preliminary draft of a history of Conway’s first forty years is underway, in preparation for the school’s upcoming anniversary in 2013.

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Organizational Strength

Jamie Scott ’10

A N N U A L

The Conway Board of Trustees approved in concept the 2009–2014 Strategic Plan, “Sustaining a Community of Life-Long Learners.” The staff and board will be working together in FY 2011 to fine-tune and implement this plan.

C E L E B R AT I N G 40 YE A R S I N 2013

A N N U A L

Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Summary Summary of Operations FY2010

The financial health of the school remained strong overall as fiscal year 2010 saw a $31,852 increase in net assets bringing total net assets to $1,148,315. Total unrestricted revenue was up by $15,618 primarily attributable to increased tuition revenue. Contribution and investment revenue continued their downward trend and were lower than last year by $7,229 or 10% and $2,942 or 20% respectively.

Project revenue came in at an alltime high of $81,816, helping to off-set the lower contribution and investment numbers. This was an increase of $11,752 or more than 15% over FY 09. The school continues to practice a conservative investment strategy with over ninety percent of its portfolio made up of money markets, certificates of deposit, and corporate bonds.

Operating expenses were kept in check and total expenses for FY10 were down 5% over last year. The Other expenses item of $45,016 was associated with planning and fund raising for a capital campaign.

The expense allocation method was reviewed and adjusted to reflect program, administrative, and fundraising expenses more accurately.

This change will create a baseline that will help to provide more meaningful financial information going forward.

The May 2010 finding from Conway’s accreditation authority specifically noted: “[T]he Commission is pleased to learn that [Conway] has increased its net assets by 17% over the past five years (from $956,565 to $1,116, 463.)”

An independent audit found that the Conway School complied, in all material respects, with the requirements that are applicable to each of its major federal loan programs for the year ended June 30, 2010.

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STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2010

(from audited financial statement accepted by the Board of Trustees on October 15, 2010 with comparative figures for 2009)

FY 2010

FY 2009

UNRESTRICTED PUBLIC SUPPORT AND REVENUE Contributions In-kind contributions Tuition and fees Project fees Workshop fees (net) Investment income Miscellaneous income Total Unrestricted Support and Revenue Net Assets Released from Restrictions

TOTAL UNRESTRICTED SUPPORT AND REVENUE

AND NET ASSETS RELEASED

58,934

65,311

9,593 564,470 81,816 – 12,427 503 727,743

10,445 551,224 70,064 (598) 15,369 310 712,125

8,000

34,406

735,743

746,531

EXPENSES School activities Administration Fund-raising

437,670 145,839

532,726 121,836

73,666 46,549

Other expenses TOTAL EXPENSES Loss on disposal of asset

45,016 702,191 –

36,377 737,488 2,230

702,191 33,552

739,718 6,813

TOTAL EXPENSES & LOSSES INCREASE/(DECREASE) IN UNRESTRICTED NET ASSETS

TEMPORARILY RESTRICTED NET ASSETS Contributions Investment income/Interest earned -scholarship/loan fund Net assets released from restrictions

INCREASE/(DECREASE) IN TEMPORARILY RESTRICTED NET ASSETS

NET ASSETS AT BEGINNING OF YEAR NET ASSETS AT END OF YEAR INCREASE/(DECREASE) IN NET ASSETS

6,300 33,050 – – (8,000) (34,406) (1,700)

(1,356)

1,116,463 1,148,315 31,852

1,111,006 1,116,463 5,457

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS OF JUNE 30, 2010

(from audited financial statement accepted by the Board of Trustees on October 15, 2010 with comparative figures for 2009)

FY 2010

FY 2009

ASSETS Cash and cash equivalents Prepaid expenses Property and equiptment (net) Investments (a) Other assets

TOTAL ASSETS

459,513 319,727 4,211 5,339 692,272 722,712 126,568 222,913 23,768 1,342,584

24,060 1,321,973

LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS Current liabilities Mortgage note payable, long term portion Net assets

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS

48,950 145,319 1,148,315 1,342,584

55,570 149,940 1,116,463 1,321,973

(a) Subsequent to June 30, 2010, the school purchased $325,000 of bonds with funds that were temporarily in a money market account at June 30, 2010 during the transition to a new investment broker near year’s end. This resulted in these funds in the money market account being presented as cash and cash equivalents on the Statement of Financial Position at June 30, 2010, and then becoming investments subsequent to this date when the bonds were purchased.

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Conway Supporters Conway is grateful for the active involvement of so many of its alums and friends in teaching, mentoring, client referrals, job placement, board service, and financial support.

WHAT YOU CAN DO— CONWAY NEEDS YOUR HELP

A N N UA L F UN D GOAL: $60,000

G ive Now !

“Conway students respond to a landscape with a scientist’s curiosity, an artist’s appreciation, and an ecologist’s concern.” ~ Judy Preston, Executive Director, Tidewater Institute

� Student Projects

The school is always looking for residential, governmental, non-profit, and land trust clients interested in a sustainable landscape planning or design project.

Do you know anyone you can refer? � Applicants

The most successful way for us to reach prospective applicants is by word of mouth. Who do you know who might be interested in an extraordinary education in ecological design? � Make a Gift

Individuals wishing to help advance the mission of the school with a gift should contact Lynn Barclay, Development Director, at 413-369-4044 ext. 3 or barclay@csld. edu. Conway’s 501 (c) (3) nonprofit status makes all gifts tax-deductible. � Donate Online

You can make a gift using a credit card by going to: www.csld.edu/waystogive.htm

www.csld.edu/donatenow.htm

Donors Your donations support Conway’s work in conservation and regenerative design. The school looks to you for gifts to support: Annual Fund—Annual giving from alums and friends represents ten percent of Conway’s budget.

Bird International Fellowship—This annual, international fellowship puts a Conway graduate to work on a significant ecological design project.

Scholarship Funds—When possible, Conway assists its students to cover the cost of a Conway education.

Student Projects—Funding allows students to take on significant conservation and regenerative design projects for non-profit clients who are otherwise unable to pay.

� Planned Giving

Conway is pleased to assist you in arranging a gift of stock, an IRA charitable rollover, a bequest, or other form of planned gift.

“Conway School has consistently demonstrated itself as ‘the little engine that could.’ I find every dollar I contribute is used more efficiently than anywhere else I support.”

~Richard Snyder, Parent of Conway Graduate

Conway gratefully acknowledges the support of:

The Conway School of Landscape Design gratefully acknowledges the support of the following donors whose generous contributions in fiscal year 2010 provided vital support for our work.

We have taken great care to be accurate. If we have inadvertently omitted or inaccurately stated any information, please let us know.

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A N N U A L Corporate Contributor Greenfield Savings Bank Donors to the FY 2010 Annual Fund Amy Ackroyd Susanna Adams Jack Ahern Michael Albano Jennifer Allcock James Allison Grey Angell George Anzuoni Helen Anzuoni Charles Arnold Matthew Arnsberger Henry W. Art Mollie Babize Gary Bachman John S. Barclay Vance Barr Hatha Gable Bartlett Shari Bashin-Sullivan Alicia Batista Rachel Bechhoefer Mark Bethel Leigh Bloom Cynthia Boettner Michelle Logrande Bongiorno James Bouwkamp Terrence Boyle Nancy E. Braxton Tim Brooks Lorna & John Broucek Larissa Brown Richard Brown & Anita Loose Brown David Buchanan Ralph Caputo Seth Charde Joshua Clague David Coleman Arthur Collings Arthur Collins Joan Collins Jill Ker Conway Carla Manene Cooke Emma Cooke Glenn & Margaret Cooper Betsy Corner Clémence Corriveau Susan E. Corser David Cox Susan Crimmins Phyllis Croce Ali Crolius Walter Cudnohufsky Associates Candace Currie

Colleen Currie & Richard Rubin Janet Curtis Ruth Cutler D. Alex Damman Kate Dana Esther Danielson Anya Darrow Robert Dashevsky Dennis Delap Harry L. Dodson Deborah L. Doran Fiona Dunbar Mark Edelman Arden Edwards Freda Eisenberg Marlene Eldridge Jon & Barbara Elkow Carolyn Ellis Jonathon Ellison Elmer’s Store Paul Esswein Donald Eunson Kent & Lorena Faerber Elizabeth Farnsworth Lila Fendrick Cynthia Fine Patricia Finley Marcia Fischer Donald & Betty Fitzgerald Erin Pearson Flather Clyde & Peggy Froehlich Jesse Froehlich Edward Fuller Michael Gibbons Elisabeth Gick Michael & Jennifer Goldfinger Wendi Goldsmith Nat Goodhue Ashley Griffith John Hamilton Mr. & Mrs. James S. Hardigg Lynn Harper Alma Hecht Carl Heide Paul & Joan Cawood Hellmund Ian Hodgdon David Holden Jeff Horton Michael Hylton, Tresala, LLC Faith Ingulsrud James & Deborah Jensen Angela Kearney Steve Kellerman Annice Kenan Kathleen Kerivan John Klauder

Kim Klein Peter Klejna Amy Klippenstein Cynthia Knauf Kathleen Hogan Knisely Nancy Knox Gioia Kuss Karen Lamson Edward Landau Elsie Landstrom Nicholas and Barbara Lasoff William Lattrell Linda Leduc Robert Lemire Jay Levine Jude Lichtenstein Amy Livingston Thomas Long David Lynch Barbara Mackey Carrie Makover Margaret Maley Brian Markey Randy Marks Robert Marquand Ann Georgia McCaffray Tim McClaran Erika McConnell Kathleen McCormick Janet McLaughlin Robert Merriam Renny Meritt Tim Michel The Rev. Canon Robert J. Miner & Mrs. Robert Miner J. Peter Monro William & Melody Montgomery Terry Moore Andrea Morgante Andrea Morris Darrel Morrison James Mourkas Mary Mourkas Melissa Mourkas Gwen Nagy-Benson Kristin Nelson David Nordstrom Peter Marshall Owens Mary Parker Tehmi Patel Darlene & Mark Peters Martha Peterson Barbara Popolow Nathalie Post Janet Powers Linda Prokopy Therese Rakouskas Ginny Raub

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Peg Read Weiss & Fred Weiss Susan Reed Walter Reynolds Design Associates Suzanne Rhodes Alan Rice William and Sally Richter Catherine & David Rioux Melissa Robin & Michael Caplan Teresa Rogerson Susan Rosenberg David Rosenmiller Allen Rossiter Selina Wood Rossiter & Alexander Colhoun Elizabeth Rousek Ayers Joel Russell D. Thomson & Barbara Sargent Aaron Schlechter Charles Schnell George Schreiber Annette Schultz Barbara Scott Donald Scott Susan Sexton Gordon Shaw Angela Sisson Patsy Slothower Robert Small Andrew & Nancy Smith Jeffrey & Dorothy Smith Lincoln Smith Richard Snyder Bruce Spencer Laura Stack Johanna Stacy John Steele Mrs. Richard Sullivan Virginia Sullivan Cindy Tavernise Betsy Taylor Richard Thomas Judith Thompson Lydia & Rob Thomson J. Michael Thornton Brian Trippe Alison Trowbridge James Urban Mrs. M.E. Van Buren Susan & Peter Van Buren Liz Vizza Amy Wales & Mark Allman Donald L. Walker & Ruth Parnall Eric Weber Jennifer Webster Ann Turner Whitman John Wiegand

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Seth Wilkinson Mary Garrett Wilson Gifts-in-Kind John F. Ahern Pam Art, Storey Publishing Blair, Cutting & Smith Terry Blanchard Ken Byrne Matthew Farrington Ryan Hellwig Nicholas T. Lasoff Todd Lynch Carrie Makover Brian Markey Priscilla Novitt Katherine Patchowsky Suzanne Rhodes Jamie Scott Gerrit Stover Cindy Tavernise David Vreeland Restricted Gifts Charles Sumner Bird Charitable Foundation William Gundermann Nancy Knox Dorothea Piranian D. Thomson & Barbara Sargent Matching Gifts IBM Corporation CA, Inc. The Legacy Circle The Legacy Circle recognizes alums and friends who have made bequests or life income gifts to the Conway School. Their commitment, generosity and leadership ensure the future of the school for years to come. We thank them publicly and encourage other members of our community to follow their lead: Jennifer Allcock ’89 Richard K. Brown, Trustee Susan Crimmins ’97 William Gundermann Paul Cawood Hellmund Joan Cawood Hellmund Anna James ’99 Carrie Makover ’86 William Montgomery ’91 Anonymous

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From the Chair ~ March 2011 Dear Friends of Conway:

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

EMERITUS TRUSTEES

The FY 2010 Annual Report gives us the opportunity to reflect on our past accomplishments, and to share our plans for the 2010–2011 school year.

Arthur Collins II ’79, Chair Collins Enterprises, L.L.C. Stamford, CT

David Bird (d. 2007)

Jack Ahern Landscape Architecture University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA

Bruce Stedman ’78

The Conway School began its thirty-eighth year in September 2010 with a full enrollment of energetic students, dedicated faculty and staff, and numerous exciting projects from near and far, helping the message of sustainability to reach more of the world. The mission of Conway continues to resonate with people looking to reinvent and reeducate themselves in the responsible stewardship of the land and management of our urban and exurban environments, and to refine our consciousness for our natural resources.

I am happy to report that the Conway School continues to strengthen its financial underpinnings, its academic excellence, and sound governance. Recently, the school has expanded its presence with projects and involvement in Panama, Arizona, Italy, and Bali involving students as well as alums. The school remains fiscally sound and we are excited to have a few new trustees who have already contributed greatly.

The goal to create a permanent Conway is still the foremost activity for the trustees. That means our friends, alums and strategic partners will continue to actively pursue opportunities that present themselves to the school. One example has been the recent partnership we have established at the Kripalu Center, offering multi-year project opportunities for students in western Massachusetts. Another is the opportunity we are currently exploring to offer regenerative design fieldwork for students at three sites all within thirty minutes of Conway. These initiatives have been driven by our director, Paul Hellmund. Now in his fifth year, Paul continues to push beyond conventional boundaries to expand the curriculum for the benefit of the students and the overall image of Conway in the world.

There is much you can do, and I encourage you all to get involved. The doors are always open to visit, and I know you will be impressed by the energy that comes from our small-school-on-the-hill.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Conway School, and I hope to see you soon.

Faithfully,

Arthur Collins ’79, Chair, Board of Trustees

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Gordon H. Shaw ’89

Walter Cudnohufsky Founder, Director 1972–1992

John S. Barclay Wildlife Conservation Center UCONN, Storrs, CT

Donald L. Walker, Jr. Director 1992–2005

Rachel Bird Anderson Public Health Professional Minneapolis, MN

ADVISERS

Richard K. Brown, Vice-Chair Retired Educator Sheffield, MA Jonathon Ellison ’94 Les Jardins Ellison Gardens Ayers Cliff, QC Carol Franklin Andropogon Associates Philadelphia, PA Nat Goodhue ’91 Goodhue Land Design Stowe, VT Nicholas Lasoff ’05 Lasoff Landscape Design Bennington, VT Bob Pura, President Greenfield Community College Greenfield, MA Allen Rossiter Retired Educator Lincoln, MA Aaron Schlechter ’01 Ecological Consultant Norwalk, CT Virginia Sullivan ’86 Learning by the Yard Conway, MA Susan Van Buren ’82 TerraLogos Energy Group Baltimore, MD Seth Wilkinson ’99 Wilkinson Ecological Design Orleans, MA

John Hanning ’82 Montpelier, VT Richard Hubbard Shelburne Falls, MA David Lynch ’85 Watertown, MA Amy Klippenstein ’95 Ashfield, MA Carrie Makover ’86 Fairfield, CT Darrel Morrison New York, NY Ruth Parnall Conway, MA Joel Russell Northampton, MA Steven Stang Simsbury, CT

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Jamie Scott ’10, Paul Cawood Hellmund

class

Faculty Paul Cawood Hellmund Director & President Ken Byrne Humanities/Core Faculty Kim Erslev Landscape Design & Graphics/Core Faculty Jono Neiger Regenerative Design/Core Faculty Mollie Babize Planning Adjunct (Winter term) Elizabeth Farnsworth Conservation Biology Adjunct Bill Lattrell Ecology Adjunct Glenn Motzkin Ecology Adjunct Keith Zaltzberg Digital Design Instructor Administration Lynn Barclay Development Director Nancy E. Braxton Director of Admissions David Nordstrom Associate Director Priscilla Novitt Outreach Coordinator Past Directors Walter Cudnohufsky Founder, Director (1972–1992) Donald Walker Director (1992–2005)

Conway School of Landscape Design

Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape Planning & Design

332 South Deerfield Road PO Box 179 Conway, MA 01341 413-369-4044 www.csld.edu

Conway School of Landscape Design Non Profit Org US Postage PAID strategic mail 01152

332 South Deerfield Road P.O. Box 179 Conway, MA 01341

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Class of 2010 at Graduation.

Front row: Tabitha Kaigle, Lily Jacobson Middle row: Kerri Culhane, Abrah Dresdale, Kristin Thomas, Kathy Connolly, Annie Cox, Elizabeth Cooper, Elena Rivera, Mary Praus, Jenny Watkins, Jamie Scott Back row: Kate Snyder, Jordan Fink, Josiah Simpson, Miles Connors, Michael Yoken, Gareth Crosby, Tom

Pamela White Sand

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