InSites 2020

InSites MAGAZINE 20 2 0

The Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

CO N TEN T S Page 02

Page 24

Welcome from the Department Head

Community Design Teams

Page 03

Page 25

City of Kanab Charrette & Senior Capstone

Student Awards

Page 05

Page 26

Recreation & Open Space

2020 Scholarships

Page 07

Page 27

Residential Land Planning & Development

Internship Highlight

Page 09

Page 28

Planting Design

Celebrating 80 Years of LAEP

Page 11

Page 29

E-Studio

LAEP Speaker Series & Sponsors

Page 13

Page 31

Urban Systems Theory & Design

Incoming Grads

Page 15

Page 32

Regional Landscape Analysis & Planning

Faculty News

Page 17

Page 33

Bioregional Analysis & Planning

LAEP Advancement Board & Alumni in Memoriam

Page 19

Page 34

Study Abroad: History of Landscape Architecture

2020 Distinguished Alumni

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Study Abroad: Slovenia

Department News Highlights

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Student ASLA Chapter

News Article: Virtual Reality & the Future of Design

COVER IMAGE: Juniors in LAEP 3100, Recreation & Open Space, visited Jackson Hole’s historic Mormon Row. While there, the clouds broke and the sun came out, providing for some great photo ops!

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PASSING THE BATON Keith Christensen, Interim Department Head

Landscape resilience is the ability of a landscape to sustain

concert with significant increases in funded scholarship

desired ecological functions, biodiversity, and critical

and recognition among our faculty. A new opportunity

landscape processes over time, under changing conditions,

for distinguished practitioners to reside at LAEP’s Canyon

and despite multiple stressors and uncertainties. Landscape

House while sharing their experience and expertise with

resilience is a key aspect of practice students in landscape

our students is just beginning. Our department has been

architecture and environmental planning need to understand

highlighted as a Community-Engaged Department by USU

and demonstrate in their work. This past Spring 2020

for continuing to include community-based practice in our

semester, I am proud to tell you that our students and

mission, culture, and learning.

faculty demonstrated the principles of landscape resilience

LAEP’s momentum is an outcome of the quality of our

in the way they met the challenges brought about by the

students, commitment of our faculty, contributions of our

COVID-19 pandemic: changing conditions with multiple

alumni, and the dedication of our leadership. After more

stressors and uncertainties.

than a decade at the helm of LAEP, Dr. Sean Michael is stepping away from the role of LAEP’s department head

Within days, LAEP’s faculty and students were asked to

to pursue new opportunities and challenges. We have

move their studio-based learning into a remote environment

benefited greatly, and will continue to benefit, from his

as USU responded to these changing conditions. This was

tireless advocacy and vision for LAEP. Thank you Sean!

an unprecedented situation for LAEP, a design program dedicated to studio-based learning and culture. LAEP’s

As we look to Fall semester, passing our 80th year as a

response is a testament to the creativity, commitment, and

Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental

resilience of our students and faculty who maintained their

Planning, conditions continue to change. Yet LAEP will

learning by demonstration and doing, close collaboration,

be open for learning, making a difference, increasing

and community-focused project work. We came together

our forward momentum, distinguishing our people and

(virtually) and helped each other learn, share, and succeed.

profession, and demonstrating the resilience to sustain

As we look to the coming Fall semester, conditions continue

critical landscape education and practice.

to change. We are responding to the ongoing pandemic, sustaining our studio culture and adding to it with remote

Please join with us. It’s awesome to be a member of the

instruction and activity. But there are other changes in LAEP

LAEP family.

as well. Our graduate student facilities are being renovated this summer to meet the needs of our expanding numbers of graduate students. Our PhD program in landscape architecture and environmental planning is growing, in

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CI T Y OF

KANAB

Capstone Studios and Charrettes are features of our program

Director Kelly Stowell. There were six teams with specific

intended to accomplish two broad objectives. First and

focus including the “Necklace Team” seeking to tie together

foremost, the Capstone acts as a bridge to practice, providing

the geographies and content.

seniors with self-initiated leadership opportunities to lead and manage a large planning and design project connected

The Core Team explored the need for a vital and walkable

with a sponsor/client. The second objective is to connect

downtown, making Highway 89 its main target. The

the entire department, all classes and faculty, in a week-long

Residential Team looked at the need for affordable forms of

collaborative charrette effort. This builds studio culture and

housing in three locations. The Coral Cliffs team investigated

opens relationships among the studio body.

conservation easements and creating small amounts of development in order to preserve scenery. The Jackson

This year the opportunity to return to Kanab, Utah presented

Flats Reservoir team used the wildlife acumen of Professor

itself with Professors Carlos Licon, Todd Johnson and

Emeritus Craig Johnson to establish strong awareness of

Jake Powell directing the effort. Jake Powell’s experiences

habitat and natural systems to guide the facilitation of

in Kanab and his LAEP Extension focus afforded us the

recreation activities. The Necklace Team offered its own

opportunity to work with leaders of the City under the direct

string of parks and ties each of the other team’s efforts into

sponsorship of the Center for Education, Business and the

an Olmstedian vision for Kanab.

Arts. The Charrette was heartily supported by Executive

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C H ARRETT E & CAPSTONE

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RECREATION & In fall 2019, Dr. Ole Sleipness and Professor Dave Evans taught the Recreation Design and Open Space Planning studio, with assistance from senior Travis Lindberg. Both Ole and Dave have built relationships around collaborative design engagement, and jumped at the chance to extend this work into the studio. As usual, undergraduate and graduate students engaged in a range of project scales and types, while developing and refining their technical skills in site engineering, circulation design, and graphic representation—all while tackling contemporary design challenges through community engagement projects.

Realizing the value of analog drawing and diagramming in achieving deeper design thinking, the first project—a small-scale pocket park—was done entirely by hand, with the exception of final board composition. This approach provided a good reminder of the timeless benefits of robust discussions of design ideas with a pen in hand.

The course’s community engagement projects included a series of community parks in Mantua, Springdale, and Logan.

These projects provided students with the opportunity to interact with community partners, while strategizing ways for active and passive recreation to enhance the local quality of life.

As a counterpoint to these urban projects, students also experienced the vast landscapes of Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole through a field trip led by Ole and Careers Coordinator Tanya Rice. To engage the landscape, the class stayed overnight in Jackson to learn first-hand about planning and development issues in western gateway communities.

The trip also focused on landscape architecture’s rich history of early national park design and continued practice in these compelling settings. Students documented and captured their observations through photography and sketching.

The experience provided a rich opportunity for sharpening students’ observational skills within one of the most breathtaking public lands settings in the world.

While Ole is currently preparing for a sabbatical, Prof. Evans is lining up projects for the coming fall that will provide students with a new set of design opportunities. He’s looking forward to future collaboration with colleagues, alumni, community partners, and of most of all: LAEP’s outstanding students.

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OPEN SPACE

Field trips provide hands-on learning of how recreation design and open space planning fit within large-scale landscape systems.

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RESIDENTIAL LAND PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

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LAEP 3120 is designated as a Community Engaged Learning

Rather than travel in the Spring of 2020, we took the

(CEL) course. Community-Engaged Learning is a teaching and

opportunity to engage with our USU community. Campus

learning strategy that helps USU students graduate as citizen

planner Jordy Guth identified the property at 1100 North

scholars, and integrates meaningful community service with

and 1200 East (where the USU trailer park was located for

instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience,

many years) as a site for future family housing and recreation

teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.

facilities. The 3120 students did a great job of preparing

COVID-19 restrictions limited our ability to engage with

family housing concepts for this 10-acre parcel. Designs

communities during Spring of 2020. We look forward to

included a variety of housing typologies and densities, as

connecting with future partners when circumstances allow.

well as parking variations and a range of active and passive recreation amenities.

The COVID-19 pandemic placed LAEP students in a difficult position to work on studio projects remotely, with very little notice. The 3120 students were amazing, rising to the occasion and producing some impressive portfolio-worthy projects.

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PL A NTI N G DESIG N Students in the Planting Design studio worked to develop

conceptual designs for the site. Their task was to develop a

several master plan alternatives for the Homewood House

formal colonial garden, conservatory, labyrinth, educational

Conservation Center in Pleasant Grove, Utah. The brainchild

landscape, reception area, and productive farmland. The

and dream of Don and Brenda Wadley, Homewood was

Wadleys were enthused by the energy that the students

designed after the original Homewood colonial estate built

brought with them and their passion for the project.

by Charles Carroll in 1801 outside of Baltimore. After a long career in the State Department that took them across

Over the next several weeks, teams of students prepared

the globe, the Wadleys were inspired by their visit to the

several alternative master plans for Homewood. Creating

Homewood estate in Baltimore and returned to Don’s

a landscape that respected the Colonial style of the home

childhood home and farm to recreate the house in Utah.

while incorporating all of the required elements proved challenging. Working with the compartmentalized and

The Wadley farm was established in 1900 and is a Utah

somewhat disjointed colonial style, traditionally driven by

Centennial farm; however, like many historic farms along

practical functional concerns, was made more difficult by the

the Wasatch Front, it has been surrounded by suburban

triangular shape of the site bisected by a ravine.

development. The Wadleys believe that preserving Utah’s farming tradition is important for future generations, and

At the close of the semester, the Wadleys visited USU

part of the goal of the Homewood House Conservation

Campus to attend the final presentations of the designs by

Center is to both preserve the farm and provide educational

the students. The Wadleys were impressed by the work that

outreach and research opportunities for the public. To

the students completed, saying that the students developed

further this goal, the Wadleys asked LAEP students in the

ideas for Homewood that exceeded what they had ever

Planting Design studio to create the master plan and planting

considered for the site. Now, armed with design ideas, Don

schemed for Homewood that would respect the colonial

and Brenda are ready to move ahead with the dream of

heritage of the home, the agricultural heritage of the farm,

creating a special place of heritage and learning in the heart

and further the educational goals of the Center.

of Utah County.

Thirty students spent an abnormally frigid October day at Homewood walking the site and developing early

Students in LAEP 3500 visited Homewood House. They braved unusually cold temperatures to explore the five-acre site. All watercolor illustrations are prepared by student design (Cassidy Frost, Miranda Mann, Josh Quigley, and Jed Sorce).

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E-STUD I O The Spring 2020 E-Studio garnered the interest of nine

300 South and 200 East in Salt Lake City. The program of

juniors, two seniors, and two graduate students. E-Studio is

uses on this small urban site could include retail, office,

intended to allow students in a three credit class to try their

and residential with a highest and best use outcome.

hand at taking design strategies to a deeper level. Reading

Criteria for being selected include a defensible proforma

from the problem solving literature of design and business,

that will support sound architecture, lively public realm

the students explore concepts that include how to frame

and sustainable design. Each of the three submissions

“value propositions” and how design can “leverage” broader

garnered strong attention from the fifteen Salt Lake City

benefits to end-users and clients. This will prepare them to

jurors. Cervantes and Quigley along with two University of

be practice-ready in design settings where the objectives are

Utah MRED (Masters of Real Estate Design) students were

high-minded and where collaboration with other professions

recognized as finalists and gave a virtual video presentation

is necessary. The E-Studio gives students an opportunity to

to the jurors in SLC. LAEP Advancement Board member and

broaden their perspective and challenges them to go beyond

alumnus Kurt Altvater has given his consummate assistance

anything they have yet done. To have such high numbers of

to the students and was able to attend the final presentation

juniors taking on the Utah Real Estate Challenge speaks to

from his computer. The team finished in second place,

the courage of that class. For them, benefits of the steeper

receiving a $10,000 prize.

experience parlay throughout their internship experience and the senior year.

Graduate students Zach Warner and Nicholas LeSchofs and seniors Corrin Jones and Rob Lozanoff sought out a competition in Paris. It’s goal was to repurpose a segment of a defunct transportation line to enliven the arrondissement 18. It became densely populated with a cityscape that had not changed since the middle ages. The challenge here was to design and augment the public space by converting it into community platform near the historical Ornano Street, which has a pre-existing garden and restaurant (Le Recyclerie and Jardins du Ruisseau) that attracts visitors and local commuters looking for a local collaborative area. The results of that international competition are pending.

Juniors involved in the UREC Competition included Conner Howard, Jordan Goff, Kali Clarke, Jacob Mortensen, Josh Quigley, and Amy Cervantes. The venue for this year’s competition moved to a site at the northwest corner of

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U RBAN SYSTE M S THEORY & D ESI G N The senior Urban Design Studio produced two projects for the

The four student teams worked collaboratively to address the

Community Design Team (CDT) program during fall semester

identified urban design goals. The Helper Overall team prepared

2019. The first project was the preparation of the Helper City

analysis and design recommendations at the city and regional

Plan, which addressed the region, districts and neighborhoods

scale for the arts, recreation, growth, infill, housing types,

of the city. Helper is a small, diverse community with a strong

regional transit and more. The North Main Street team focused

historic identity and an arts-based economy. Project two was

on a new visitors’ center, arrival and wayfinding, site design

the Riverton 2050 Plan, which established a future vision for

for infill housing and street character. The Main Street team

the transformation of the Riverton downtown. During a period

developed streetscape, park, hotel, and plaza design concepts for

of rapid growth in recent years, most of the historic character of

the historic downtown, and the Price River and 100 West team

Riverton was lost.

designed a new arts district along 100 W, designed improved pedestrian and vehicular access, and envisioned new public open

Project #1: Helper City Plan

space and river edge uses.

Helper City and the American Institute of Architects prepared an SDAT (Sustainable Design Assessment Team) Report in 2017.

Project #2: Riverton 2050 Plan

Building on the SDAT recommendations, the students formed

In Riverton, five student teams prepared urban design concepts

four teams that addressed an array of issues at the regional,

for the five neighborhoods surrounding the Old Dome Meeting

district, neighborhood and site scale. Accommodating growth,

Hall and Riverton City Park. The Riverton 2050 Plan is a vision

improving community character, clarifying public access,

for new public facilities, mixed-use development, walkable

wayfinding design, and economic development are at the heart

streets, public gardens, an interconnected trail system, and a mix

of the Helper City Plan, anchored by the city’s history, arts,

of housing typologies connected through greenway design and

recreation, authenticity and creative vision.

pedestrian access. The vision of the plan is to create a walkable,

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mixed-use urban center that accommodates growth and re-creates an identifiable downtown.

The Riverton 2050 Plan is a tool for informed public discussion as the lands surrounding the park and old dome transition over time. Adding public facilities like a new library, a museum with a center for the arts, a swim facility for all ages, and an urban village oriented to food education and production, strengthen the public core of the new downtown. Proposed retail, office and housing uses, with a range of affordability, oriented to a broad demographic and built around public open space anchor the vision of the plan.

The learning embedded in the Helper City Plan and the Riverton 2050 Plan adds to student preparation as they graduate into an urban-oriented market.

Through these projects the students served two communities in need and helped to fund the student ASLA through the CDT program. The Helper City Plan and the Riverton 2050 Plan will be added to the LAEP Library, and support future studio and thesis research.

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R EGIONAL

Students visited the surrounding areas to better understand the ecological diversity, public lands issues, and regional context

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L ANDS CAPE A NA LYSIS & P LA N NING It is not often that a new city is created in Utah. Even less

Bluff, and identify and plan opportunities for the area’s

often is a town created in a more dynamic region than San

future.

Juan County. San Juan County is located in the Southeastern corner of Utah and is home to the newly established Bears

The class built upon a Southeast Utah Corridor plan

Ears National Monument. This quiet, remote, rural area

completed by USU LAEP Extension and a previous LAEP

is experiencing expansive growth in tourism as attention

6100 course taught in the spring of 2013. Students traveled

from the public lands debate has placed a spotlight on this

to Bluff to conduct a site visit, host a community workshop,

once relatively unknown region. In the fall of 2018 the City

meet and gather insights from the new city council and

of Bluff was incorporated and became Utah’s newest city.

planning commission, and experience the stunning physical

The new city of Bluff was born into a region with cultural,

and cultural landscapes of Southern San Juan County.

ecological, economic, and political dynamics that exert

The nine MLA students in the course started by analyzing

tremendous pressures, and present unique opportunities for

the biophysical and social landscapes of the region using

this new town.

GIS data, survey information, personal interviews, and open access data. Based on the findings from the analysis,

Leaders from the town of Bluff approached LAEP Extension

the class then selected a suite of design and planning

in the fall of 2018 looking for assistance in identifying

interventions to propose to the town of Bluff. The students

regional pressures and planning for the community’s future.

work identified the regional scale physical and social

This effort evolved into students in the LAEP 6100 Regional

influences on the town of Bluff and established a vision that

Analysis and Planning studio, led by Extension Specialist

encourages Bluff to embrace its unique identity.

Jake Powell, working with the city of Bluff to analyze the surrounding Southern San Juan County, Utah region to

This course was a partnership between the town of Bluff, the

identify regional challenges that are impacting the city of

LAEP Department, LAEP Extension, and DesignBuildBLUFF.

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BIOREGIONAL

ANALYSIS & PLAN NING This year’s Bioregional Planning Fall 2019 course embarked

its citizens and exacerbating natural and man-made hazards

on a new project to wrestle with the future of the Wasatch

such as bad air, limited water, wildfire risk, and earthquake

Front. The course was an intense initiation into planning

risk. Growth will likely replace agriculture and outdoor spaces

methods, theories and frameworks that are intended to help

with sprawling development.

the student understand and evaluate long-term impacts of decisions and policies created today. Much of the course was

To gain insight into the public process, the class organized a

spent working on a relatively new planning process as part of

Geodesign Workshop with dozens of professionals invited

the International Geodesign Collaboration. Students worked

from outside the department to partake in a collaborative

through numerous iterations of posters, spatial analytics and

design process. The students organized the workshop,

value statements to come up with the studio project theme,

in partnership with GeodesignHub, integrating students

Wasatch Front Planning 2050: Growth Meets Hazard.

from LAEP’s Introduction to GIS course, and over a dozen individuals from outside the university with other faculty

As if long-range planning is not hard enough, students

experts participating in the activity. The students prepared

worked on integrating the unpredictability of natural hazards

for the workshop by generating a number of different

into the mix. Some of these hazards are very visible to the

models, ranging from process models (the way systems

public (e.g. air quality), but earthquakes, floods, fire, and

function) to change models (quantitative geospatial metrics).

liquefaction (combination of earthquakes, soils and water)

After the workshop ended, students spent the last three

are not always on the radar of the general public and are

weeks of class pulling together the variety of different

sometimes difficult to characterize in planning processes,

planning ideas to develop different possible outcomes

as these risks are not easy to quantify and the when and

for these scenarios (no adoption, early adoption and late

where of their impact are uncertain. Juxtaposed to these

adoption). Each of these scenarios were assessed across the

risks is the 3rd fastest growing region in the United States

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to identify

with a 47% population increase from 2010 to 2018. It is also

the impacts of each. The results of this project will be

unique: a metropolitan area boasting world-class skiing and

part of the International Design Collaboration Conference

hiking, flanked by the Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau.

February 2021.

The draw from these natural features, combined with a high birthrate and high immigration from other parts of the United States, has put the population of the Wasatch Front on track to double by 2050. This growth presents both opportunities and challenges, straining the valley’s ability to provide for

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Top: Students hosted a GeoDesign workshop with professionals from government, industry, academia, and NGOs, as well as students from Dr. Keun Park’s GIS for Environmental Planning course.

Bottom: Maps highlighting possible housing density trajectories used to explore the balance for a thriving ecosystem, housing, agriculture, water, and public spaces.

Early Adopter 2050

Non Adopter 2050

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History of Landscape Architecture

DE STINATION:

Portugal The History of Landscape Architecture course is normally

Students were introduced to the important stylistic

a three-credit semester class that fulfills an LAEP as well

movements, individuals, sites, and developments in world

as a General Education Breadth Humanities requirement.

history that have shaped the landscape – and how the

However, during spring semester 2020, 12 USU students

landscape has in turn shaped the world’s societies. Using

(5 of which have LAEP majors) completed the course during

Lisbon and the surrounding area as a backdrop, students

spring break and spent eight days in Lisbon, Portugal to boot!

saw firsthand the impacts that topography, geology, climate, culture, and other historic influences have had on a place.

For the first time, LAEP 2300 was offered in an intense study abroad format that immersed the students in the beauty,

The itinerary was packed and ranged from 2,200-year-old

climate, history, and culture of the famous Portuguese city

Roman ruins and a 1,000-year-old Moorish fortress to

of Lisbon. Professors Ben George and Dave Anderson led

modern city planning and famous ‘starchitecture’. Everyone

the trip (which went off without a hitch), with students and

had a great time experiencing the city by Metro, train, and A

faculty returning to Logan just before COVID-19 restrictions

LOT of walking, which helped everyone work off the many

were announced.

many famous Portuguese pastries that were consumed!

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ST UDY ABROAD: S LOV ENI A CHANDLER CHRISTENSEN, BLA ‘21 Ljubljana. If you’re the average person, like I was, you have

city center comes to life at night as the restaurants and bars

no idea where that is, what it looks like, or even how to

along the river open and friends meet up for a drink and

pronounce it. The correct pronunciation is “Lyoo-blyah-nuh”.

some food. Time seems to move slower. The hustle of the

Or “Loob-lee-ah-nah” for those of us with little European

American life is seemingly nonexistent. Locals enjoy taking

language background. Yes, the ‘j’s are silent. How cool is

their time, delving into conversation, and enjoying a nice

that? Geographically, Ljubljana is located in central Slovenia.

burek, a Slovenian pastry.

If you haven’t googled where that is already, the country of Slovenia is bordering the north-east edge of Italy. It is a

School is different. There is a great deal to learn from the

stunning land of green pastures, mountains, rivers, and a very

unique perspective and beliefs of the Slovenian people.

cute little coastline.

But learning is not exclusive to class. Travel opportunities are around every corner, and in turn, so are learning

Life in Ljubljana is laid back, quiet, and very European. In

opportunities. The study-abroad experience is exciting,

the mornings the streets are busy with bicycles and public

different, and challenging. All in all however, the study-

transit. Noontime is the perfect time to go people watching

abroad experience is worth it!

as families and individuals hit the streets to visit their neighborhood cafe for a light lunch and some coffee. The

CASSIDY FROST, BLA ‘21 Our time in Slovenia definitely did not go the way that I

to be more understanding, and makes us better people. I’m

envisioned it, returning to Utah earlier than anticipated in

grateful for the 4 weeks that we had and the cities we were

the wake of a pandemic. I was able to learn so much from the

able to experience. Coming home early was disappointing,

short amount of time that we did have. I met people whose

but because of it, I have a fire to keep traveling and learning.

outlook on life changed my own and experienced a culture

Ljubljana is such a unique, beautiful place that will always

full of tradition. I believe travel broadens our minds, allows us

hold a piece of my heart.

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STUDENT ASLA CH APTE R The student chapter of the ASLA hosted an array of

The incoming 2020-2021 student ASLA officers include:

extracurricular and social programs during the 2019-2020

President-Kali Clarke, President-Elect-Hallee Kinikin, Public

academic year. These successful programs—‘Genius Hour’

Relations Specialist-Gabby Hawkes Blackburn, Professional

luncheon presentations, community BBQ’s, the LAEP

Development Coordinator-Josh Quigley, Treasurer-

Christmas Party, and the student’s collaboration with the

Alison Gowans, Outreach Coordinator-Helen Lea, Events

ASLA Utah chapter through the mentorship program, Winter

Coordinator-Chandler Christensen and Secretary-Landis

Social and portfolio review night—all enriched student

Wenger.

learning and professional networking.

Professor David Anderson serves on the ASLA Utah A successful student ASLA CREATE 2020 differential tuition

Executive Committee and continues to strengthen the LAEP

proposal allowed the department to send fourteen students

connection to the professional community. Professor David

to the National ASLA Conference in Los Angeles, California.

Evans serves as the faculty advisor to the student ASLA.

During the conference, the LAEP students won second place in the school spirit award competition, which earned ten free student registrations to the next conference (slated for 2021). Building on that success, the student chapter applied for and was awarded a CREATE 2020 funding that will pay for registration, travel and housing for fifteen students total to the next conference.

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COM M UN I T Y D ES I G N TEAM S The Community Design Team (CDT) program generates cost-

a mixed-use, walkable urban center. In the Recreation and

recovery fees that support the student chapter of the ASLA

Open Space studio, the students completed a collection of

and match graduate students to funded thesis opportunities.

master plans for a memorial park in Springdale, and for two

The CDT projects are service-learning experiences that

neighborhood parks in Mantua. In the Analysis and Design

advance leadership and management skills, enrich portfolios,

studio, the studio prepared schematic design concepts for

and provide exposure to community engaged planning and

a u-pick farm with indoor dining and shopping facilities in

design experiences. The fees generated help the student

Wellsville.

ASLA host extra-curricular social and educational programs and connect the students to the Utah ASLA chapter through

The CDT program matches LAEP graduate students to

the mentorship program and social events.

funded thesis projects. Recent matches include a parksystem master plan update, a water-wise planting document

During the 2019-2020 academic year, the CDT program

for real estate investors, and a main street revitalization plan

developed project opportunities for several studio classes. In

for a rural Utah city.

the Urban Systems, Theory and Design studio, the students completed the Helper City Plan, an analysis, planning and

Professional Practice Associate Professor David Evans

design document that won a 2020 Student ASLA Honor

serves as the faculty advisor to the CDT program, and Travis

Award from the ASLA Utah Chapter, and the Riverton 2050

Lindberg served as the student program manager for the past

plan, a vision for the revitalization of the downtown into

two years.

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AWAR DS Student ASLA Awards

U ND ER GRA D MER I T AWA R DS Patricia Beckert

Survier Castillo

Ethan Balls

Travis Lindberg

UND ER GRAD H O NO R AWA R D S

G RA D UAT E M ER I T AWA R D

Madison Pong

GRADUATE HO NO R AWARD Jim Anglesey

Nicholas LeSchofs

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Scholarships

Jessica Clements 75th Anniversary Scholarship

Kali Clarke

GAIA Scholarship

Cassidy Frost

John K. Nicholson Memorial Scholarship

Anna Farb

Laval Morris Travel Fellowship

Helen Lea

Derek Jenson David Bell Scholarship

Lloyd Sutton David Jensen Scholarship

Anna Brown

Amelia Theobald

Chandler Christensen

Ian Kola

Danyel Mezzanatto

Kenzy Fogle

Danyel Mezzanatto

Craig Johnson Scholarship

Huculak Aggie Family Scholarship

Trent Thomas

John K. Nicholson Memorial Scholarship

Lindsay Lloyd

Laval Morris Travel Fellowship

Jackson Family Scholarship

Kenji Shiozawa Scholarship

MLA Class of 1981 Scholarship

John K. Nicholson Memorial Scholarship

Kenji Shiozawa Scholarship

Professor A.A. Heravi LAEP Faculty Scholarship

Amy Cervantes

Diversity in Landscape Architecture Scholarship

Courtney Dunn

John K. Nicholson Memorial Scholarship

Jacob Mortensen

Kenneth G. Volkman Scholarship

Saul Karamesines

Utah ASLA Memorial Scholarship

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INT E R N S H I P HIGHLIGHT JORDAN GOFF, BLA ‘21 This summer I had the opportunity to intern at MGB+A in Salt Lake City.

Summer 2020 had a rough start as we all know, which for me meant starting my internship working remotely. It certainly was not what I was expecting, but I was grateful that the firm found ways for me to help, even with the difficult circumstances. After about a month of working remotely, I was able to start working in the office in Downtown Salt Lake.

One of the biggest things I have learned this summer has been about the business/marketing side of our industry. A lot of the tasks I’ve been assigned have been related to marketing to potential clients, which is something we don’t have the chance to put into practice very often in school. In the LAEP studio, projects just kind of show up on your desk, but in the real world you have to go get them! I feel far more familiar now with the RFP/RFQ process, as well as marketing to private clients. I have also become a lot more familiar with the public approval process and how public projects are funded.

I have also had the opportunity to work on a few conceptual level design projects that I’ve really enjoyed, as well as putting together a construction document set for a small aesthetic upgrade project in the Salt Lake area, which will probably be under construction by the time InSites Magazine 2020 is published.

SHARE AN OPPORTUNITY If your firm is hiring or you’re aware of another opening that may be of interest to our students or recent grads, please get in touch by visiting: laep.usu.edu/alumni/student-placement

INSITES

Celebrating The 2019-2020 school year marks the 80th year of the LAEP

Department. Over the last 80 years we’ve grown in many ways. It all started in 1939 with the creation of the Department of Landscape Gardening and Floriculture.

At its establishment, Laval Morris was the sole professor and served as the Department Head.

Over the last 80 years, LAEP has grown in numbers.

Four students were enrolled in the program the first year it was offered. This year, 156 students have an LAEP program declared as their major or graduate program. As a result, we have over 1,500 alumni who support LAEP students and programs in various ways.

And we couldn’t forget the professors who make it all possible. Throughout the years, LAEP professors have established a legacy of teaching excellence.

We are fortunate to have professors who are devoted to their students and the communities they serve.

T h a nk you to everyo ne who ha s he l p e d m a ke LAEP a fami ly ove r the l a s t 8 0 ye a r s . We wouldn’t b e L AEP without YO U.

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SPE A KER SERIES Forster Ndubisi

Creating Resilient Urban Spaces

Craig Johnson Lecture

Forster Ndubisi is a professor of landscape architecture and urban planning in Texas A&M University’s College of Architecture. Dr. Ndubisi is a fellow in both American Society of Landscape Architects and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture.

His background is in ecology, landscape architecture, regional planning and resource development with special interests in ecological design and planning, interdisciplinary design education and growth management. Raised in Nigeria, he has taught at the University of Georgia, and Washington State University, and has studied collaborative design with First Nations communities in Canada.

Simon Bussiere Aloha & Design

As an Assistant Professor at the University of Hawai‘i, Simon’s studios and seminars focus on exploring ecological patterns and processes as the key drivers of urban, community and landscape form. His professional experience spans the environmental design spectrum. Stemming from an arts, ecology and design/build background, with expertise in conceptual design, visualization, community engagement and construction, his work bridges ecological principles with contemporary design strategies. He is currently developing a research and design laboratory based in Honolulu to simulate and study dynamic environmental systems in the Hawaiian archipelago.

LAEP Social Justice Day

McKenna Drew, Brett Hoffer, Tyson Murray, & Stephanie Tomlin Emerging Professional LAEP Alumni Panel

LAEP alumni can be found making a difference in places across the country and the world. But finishing your degree and finding your place in the workforce can be a big adjustment. We were fortunate to be joined by 4 recent graduates of the LAEP department who shared their experience and answered the burning questions.

Karen Phillips & Perry Howard Segments: Similarities & Differences

Karen Phillips and Perry Howard, both African-American landscape architects, grew up during the 60s in different parts of the South. Service to underserved communities seems to be a common theme throughout their career development and work. They both attended majority white universities for their undergraduate education, and later met while attending Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Together Karen and Perry will share an exploration of the segmental development of their careers and their impact on the profession of landscape architecture.

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THANK YOU SPONSORS! The LAEP Speaker Series provides an invaluable opportunity for our students and faculty to foster relationships and make connections with industry professionals. Through hosting this event, we strive to cover a wide array of topics that help us remain relevant in our approach and expose our students to the diversity of the industry.

With the support of generous sponsors, we are able to elevate the quality and value of these experiences for our students. Thank you to the following sponsors for their support during the 20192020 school year:

Platinum Sponsorship ($1,000):

Silver Sponsorship ($500):

If yo u o r yo ur comp any are intere s te d in p rov idin g s u p p o r t fo r f u t u re S p e a ke r S eri es event s, v isit our web site: lae p .u s u .e du /s s -s p o ns o r.

P l eas e co nt act Alyssa at alyssa.s t as t ny@u s u .e du w it h any q u e s t io ns .

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INCOMIN G GRADS Motahare Abrishami (PhD)

Philip Fernberg (PhD)

Bentley Flandro (MLA)

Jordan Goff (B+MLA)

Motahare’s main areas of interest are in the network analysis, urban remote sensing, and satellite image analysis.

Philip looks forward to further developing methodologies of tangible landscape modeling and tactical design strategies for coastal adaptation in Viet Nam in his PhD.

Heading into the MLA program, Bentley is excited to learn more about sustainability, urban planning, and creating spaces that create community.

Jordan chose landscape architecture His interests include planting design, social justice, urban planning, branding, and wayfinding, and sustainability.

Logan Hall (MLA)

Derek Jenson (B+MLA)

Devin Macfarlane (B+MLA)

Valerie Novack (PhD)

Logan spent two years as a landscape designer before pursing an MLA. He is passionate about bringing the beauty of nature into the built environment.

Derek gained a true passion for design and the environment after starting the BLA program. He looks forward to working with the professors as he deepens his education.

Devin aims to make a positive difference in the world by helping develop places that are sustainable, equitable, and memorable.

Valerie is a disability policy researcher focusing on inclusive infrastructure and emergency management practices.

Randall Smith (MLA)

Lilian Taft (MLA)

Jessica Zuban (MLA)

Randall’s love for plants and landscape design started with the very first class of his very first semester. He hasn’t looked back since.

A couple of miscellaneous jobs led Lilian to horticulture and work at a small, organic gardening company as a landscaper and then as the nursery administrator.

Focused on creating productive and resilient landscapes, Jessica volunteers as a permaculture designer and is passionate about whole-systems health and regenerative agriculture.

FAC U LT Y N E WS

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LAEP Professors Receive USU Presidential Award for Community-Engaged Faculty LAEP Professors Dave Anderson, Dave Evans, and Jake Powell received the Community-Engagement Faculty Award.

The trio was nominated for their extraordinary efforts to serve communities across the Intermountain West through a unique blending of landscape architecture and planning studio projects that are built upon partnerships with mayors, city planners, non-profits and individual citizens.

This recognition truly speaks to the superb Extension efforts taking place in our Department and particularly to the wonderful faculty members who lead the charge in getting involved in the communities around us. Excellent work to everyone who has taken part in these efforts.

New Grad Program Director We are pleased to welcome Professor Carlos Licon as the new LAEP Graduate Program Director.

Carlos has been a part of the LAEP family for over a decade and will be a great fit for the position.

Amongst other responsibilities, the Grad Program Director works to recruit new grad students and advises grad students in our programs. We have full confidence that Carlos will be successful in this new role!

Promotions We are fortunate to have the best faculty around.

This year, Keith Christensen has been promoted to full Professor and Ole Sleipness has been promoted to Associate Professor. Congratulations are in order as these professors are recognized for their hard work, dedication, and expertise in their subject matter. We are proud to have them as members of the LAEP Department.

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LAEP ALUMNI ADVANCEMENT BOARD The LAEP Advancement Board meets twice each year, once during Fall semester and once during Spring semester. These meetings are typically held on USU campus in Logan, Utah, providing opportunities for Board Members to brush shoulders with students and, for many, get back to their Aggie roots.

This year was a bit different. The Fall 2019 Board meeting was held in Salt Lake City at the joint facility of ASLA Utah and AIA (American Institute of Architects) Utah. This unique partnership has been in the works for quite some time and Utah is currently the only state with a shared facility between the two organizations. This partnership provides an opportunity for greater collaboration between the two fields. We see this as an exciting step in advancing our professions. Thank you to both organizations for hosting us in such a beautiful facility!

The Spring 2020 Advancement Board meeting was scheduled to take place in conjunction with the annual LAEP Awards Banquet in April. As it became apparent that the worldwide health crisis was escalating, we made the decision to hold this meeting virtually. Ironically, much of the Fall meeting was centered on ways to “recession-proof� the LAEP Department and provide students with the skills they need to be successful in a competitive industry. This provided an excellent basis for the Spring meeting, which focused on how the industry is adapting to our current circumstances and how students and recent grads will fit into that picture.

A big thank you to Jay Bollwinkel (BLA 1987) and Randy Jackson (BLA 1970), who have served as the Advancement Board Co-chairs for several years. We are grateful for their diligence in leading the Board and their support of LAEP!

IN MEMORIAM From time to time, we have to say goodbye to our alumni. We invite you to join us in honoring the lives and impact of these alumni who have recently passed.

Emery M. Larson B.S. 1950

Charles A. Everson B.S. 1951

Glenn Lee Baron B.S. 1958

Delmar Price B.S. 1959

Thomas F. Slater B.S. 1962

Lynn T. Fergus B.S. 1962

Donald H. Ensign B.S. 1963

James Robert Slater BLA 1969

Paul Platis BLA 1973

Michael D. Preston BLA 1976

Larry Ernest Reber BLA 1984

David Lawson Trueblood BLA 1986

Mark E. Larson BLA 1987

Steven C. Heaton BLA 1991

Kara Knighton BLA 2013

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2020 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI ALLYSIA ANGUS (MLA, 1999) Allysia Angus is one of four landscape architects in the BLM. She served as the landscape architect for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) in Escalante, Utah for more than 15 years. She is now the landscape architect for the BLM’s Paria River District which includes GSENM and the Kanab Field Office. Allysia began her career at the Monument in 2000 as an intern and since that time has worked on a host of planning, design, interpretive, and research projects.

Early in her career, Allysia was a key member of the team that prepared the Scenic Byway 12 Corridor Management Plan as part of the application package to secure designation of the byway as an All-American Road within the National Scenic Byway System, which to date is Utah’s only such acclaimed route. She served for many years on the Scenic Byway 12 Committee and Foundation.

Allysia led the development of BLM’s Guidelines for a Quality Built Environment, which established or reinforced goals related to the image, functionally, performance, and accessibility of all Bureau facilities. Allysia is the longest-standing member of the instructor cadre for the BLM National Training Center’s Visual Resource Management Course. She recently led the effort to prepare the GSENM Visual Resource Inventory which documented the BLM’s highest rated Scenic Quality Rating Unit.

Outside of work, Allysia was the owner/builder of her small straw bale home where she has hosted LAEP’s Women in Landscape Architecture retreats, is the co-director of the Escalante Canyons Art Festival, and volunteers for Best Friends Animal Society’s Trap, Neuter, Release Program.

In addition to her MLA, she holds a BA in Communications and Art from the University of Tennessee.

JERECK BOSS (BLA, 1993) Jereck Boss developed an interest in design, architecture and landscape architecture at an early age. His deep respect for natural topography, innovative “design first” philosophy, and the belief that good design should not be neutralized by limitations – but rather limitations stimulate creative solutions not previously considered, have earned him many awards for his work on various projects.

As a Registered Landscape Architect in Utah, Nevada and Texas with 25 years of professional experience, Jereck began his professional career as an associate at firm local to Utah before becoming a partner at OJB Landscape Architecture’s Houston office, where he has spent the last 15 years overseeing a broad range of institutional, corporate campus, mixed-use, and large-scale urban design projects, including walkable and innovative streetscapes. In addition to leading the design and development of multiple projects across the United States, Jereck also manages operations, marketing and project management for the firm.

Jereck continues to play an active role in the design community as a Board Member with the Rice Design Alliance and former LAEP Advancement Board member. He was elected into the Council of Fellows ASLA in 2018.

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DEPARTMENT

NE WS H IGHLIGHT S

New Master Trail Steward Course USU LAEP Extension developed this course in response to the growing need for skilled volunteers and trail organizations to assist in the stewardship and management of Utah’s trail resources. Extension Specialist Jake Powell has been working with federal and state land managers, the Utah office of Tourism, and Cache County trails planner and LAEP alumnus Dayton Crites to develop the course.

The course is intended to provide volunteers, trail organizations, and land managers both a foundational understanding of the values inherent in trail stewardship as well as teach the skills required to plan, build, and maintain sustainable trail networks. The course is being developed as a five module core curriculum beginning with an online introduction course, and four subsequent in-person, field based workshops that cover trail planning and design, trail construction and maintenance, volunteer and project management, and advanced trail construction.

Instead Podcast: A new vision for downtown Pocatello The Extension mission of the LAEP department leads us to communities that want help creating a plan for the future. This episode of the USU Office of Research’s “Instead” podcast is about Pocatello Idaho. You’ll hear where the city is at now and how Professor Todd Johnson and former grad student/ current Pocatello Assistant Planner Jim Anglesey are contributing to Pocatello’s vision. Listen to the podcast by visiting instead.buzzsprout.com and finding episode 15.

LAEP Studio Project Receives Second Statewide Award During the Fall 2018 semester, students in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning’s (LAEP) Urban Theory and Design studio, led by Professor Caroline Lavoie, completed a project with the City of Ogden. Their work, which previously received a Utah ASLA Honor Award, recently won a 2019 Utah American Planning Association (APA) Outstanding Award.

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FACILITY UPDATES LAE P h a s ma d e s evera l fa c i l i ty updates in recent years, which have helpe d to c re ate p o s i ti ve l ea r n i n g s p a ces . With the early departure f rom campus du r i ng Sp r i n g 2 0 2 0 s emes ter, we were able to get a head start on some of these pro j e c t s .

Office Changes Modifications have also been made to the LAEP Front Office to create a more functional configuration and a faculty member office has been divided to create two separate office spaces.

This will better accommodate faculty members in our ever-growing department.

Grad Studio Refresh Funded by CREATE 2020, LAEP department funds, and an anonymous alumni gift, the Grad Studio is receiving a much well-deserved remodel. Major changes include removing the box and opening the wall into the Jury Room.

New standing desks were purchased and used during Spring semester, with new flooring and pin-up space still in the works. This update will promote collaboration and studio culture, as well as create a similar style to the undergrad studios. A special thank you to the anonymous donor whose contribution helped make this significant remodel possible.

Travel Course: Pacific West Coast LAEP Students prepared during the Spring semester for a unique trip down the Pacific Coast Highway led by Assistant Professor Brent Chamberlain. The journey was set to start in Portland, Oregon and end in San Francisco, California, with opportunities to bicycle throughout. The trip has been tentatively rescheduled for Summer 2021.

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Vi rtual Re al i ty an d t he Futu r e o f De s i g n Virtual reality (VR) isn’t the wave of the future. It’s now.

VR allows us to immerse ourselves in another world without leaving the comfort of our homes. Effectively, it provides the next best thing to a real-life experience.

Although frequently associated with gaming, VR can be used in many other highly significant ways, such as in training engineers and surgeons. Virtual reality is also having an impact on the design industry. Landscape architects can use VR to design spaces and test ideas without actually being at the site.

“The first time I put a VR headset on, I immediately realized the potential that this technology has to change the way we design. You’re designing by feel… as opposed to looking through a computer screen or using pen and paper and trying to visualize that in your mind,” said Benjamin George, an assistant professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning (LAEP) at Utah State University.

“It’s very liberating in its ability to help the designer be free of those constraints that maybe they’ve had to work through before.”

Just prior to the start of fall semester, USU hosted the first VR Week, a multiday workshop that gave participants an opportunity to learn how to design with VR. The event is the result of a collaboration between George

and Andrew Sargeant, a landscape designer at Lionheart Places in Austin, TX. Over the course of four days, LAEP students learned the basics of designing with VR and how to use the Unity development platform, the video gaming engine that student participants used to create their designs. The workshop culminated in a hypothetical project designing the site for a technology museum.

Participants first developed plans for the space and then created them using VR. This method gives designers the advantage of being able to test concepts and decide what feels right in the space by experiencing their designs before they are ever built.

Patricia Beckert, an LAEP student participant, compared designing in VR to building a model. Physical models are sometimes used to visually communicate with clients. These models help people connect with a design differently than they do with a two-dimensional rendering. Similarly, VR also helps people connect with a design through a three-dimensional experience, but on a much larger scale. The level of detail that can be added in a VR “digital model” makes it feel like a real-life experience. Another student remarked that there are “virtually no limits” to what you can create with VR. Students in the LAEP Department will be implementing VR in their projects this year as VR headsets are moved into the studios. George looks forward to watching VR Week participants teach their classmates how to use VR in their work and to seeing the impact that it has on their projects and careers. He added, “Our students are doing things that are more advanced than the majority of professionals right now and, you know, that’s really, really cool.”

InSites 2020 The Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Magazine College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences Utah State University 4005 Old Main Hill Logan, UT 84322-4005 laep.usu.edu