2026 ASLA Student Awards

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General Design

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Award of Excellence

The Invisible Meadow: A Perceptive Approach to Seagrass Restoration

Location: Miami, FL
Desi Roch-Hernandez, Student ASLA
Faculty Advisor(s): Yi Luo, ASLA
School: University of Florida

This project reimagines seagrass restoration as both ecological infrastructure and public experience. Using biodegradable, buoyant modules, seagrass is supported during early growth before gradually settling to the seafloor, improving establishment success and enabling scalable meadow expansion. Integrated with piers and boardwalks, the design makes restoration visible, engaging visitors through education and interaction. Its impact is measured through biodiversity supported, people reached, and total meadow established. By linking measurable ecological outcomes with public engagement, the project transforms restoration into participatory infrastructure, advancing coastal resilience while reconnecting communities to underwater ecosystems.

The Invisible Meadow: A Perceptive Approach to Seagrass Restoration

General Design

Honor Awards

Fluid Itineraries: Rewetting Hobrechtsfelde

Hobrechtsfelde, Brandenburg, Germany

Hanrui Fu, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Chris Reed, FASLA; Laila Seewang

Harvard University

re-Wrighting Decay: A Regenerative form of Cyclical Forest Stewardship

Saint Martins Parish, NB

Kiana Rezvani Baghae, Student ASLA; Michael Harding Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Matthew Brown

University of Toronto

Unearthing Wildness: On the Future of Urban Wilds

Boston, MA

Erica Martinez, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Danielle Choi, ASLA

Harvard University

Greenlawn Cemetery Memorial Park & Garden

Indianapolis, IN

Ahmaud Tra'von Carroll-Tubbs, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Ann Hildner; April Westcott, FASLA

Ball State University

After Waste: A Post-Landfill Regeneration Framework

Seneca Falls, NY

Annika Schon, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Mitch Glass

Cornell University

Where Flamingos Return, Life Returns

Tilopozo, Atacama, Chile

Zeliang Lyu, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Pablo Pérez-Ramos

Harvard University

Urban Design

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Award of Excellence

Roots Over Roads: Reclaiming Oakland’s I-980 Corridor

Location: Oakland, CA
Samuel Green, Student ASLA
Faculty Advisor(s): Mueen Bogis
Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo

Roots Over Roads is a community-informed planning framework for decommissioning Oakland's I-980 and reclaiming 146 acres of freeway land as public commons. Built on sustained community engagement and Caltrans' Vision 980 study, the project responds to decades of infrastructural harm. Built from redlining, displacement, and environmental inequity the project responds by restoring the street grid, amplifying cultural memory, and rewilding the urban waterfront. Organized through three strategies, Mend, Root, and Bloom, it transforms a redundant highway into a resilient civic and ecological spine shaped by West Oakland's own priorities.

Roots Over Roads: Reclaiming Oakland’s I-980 Corridor

Urban Design

Honor Awards

Ciudad Tlatelolco: Return Home

Mexico City, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico

Anna Michelle Earley, Student ASLA; Jacob Bratch; Halina Pyzdrowski, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Maria Bellalta, FASLA; Claire Henkel, ASLA

North Carolina State University

Atmospheric Springs: The Future of Fog in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA

Nathan Sweitzer, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Bas Smets; Pamela Cabrera; Romina Totaro

Harvard University

A Botanical and Inclusive Vision for Escobedo

Escobedo, Nuevo León, Mexico

Junyi Yang, Student ASLA; Wei-Ting Su, Student ASLA; Phurit Sheeranangsu, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): David Gouverneur; Oscar Grauer

University of Pennsylvania

From Dumping Grounds To Living Systems

Houston, TX

Jiho Park, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Sungmin Lee; Xiaoyu Li; Sungju Jung

Texas A&M University

Catalyzing with Water

New York City

Bo-Huai Huang, Student Affiliate ASLA; Hannah Jun, Student Affiliate ASLA; Niharika Yashasvi Yenamandra, Student Affiliate ASLA; Raul Brito, Student Affiliate ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Thomas Balsley, FASLA

Harvard University

Residential Design

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Honor Awards

Grasses That Glow: Neighborhood Agency through Practices of Care

Virginia Beach, VA

Michael Minutoli Student ASLA; Catelyn Southwell, Student ASLA; Lindsey Messer, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Ruby Zielinski

University of Virginia

Trees, Bricks, and Debris: Rebuild Bunker Hill Housing Memory

Charlestown, MA

Xinying Li, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Francesca Benedetto

Harvard University

Analysis & Planning

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Honor Awards

Saxis 2090: From Resistance to Resilience through Dredged Landscapes

Saxis, VA

Shuai Yuan, Associate ASLA; Sean Alberts; Sachida Pradhan

Faculty Advisor(s): Bradley Cantrell, ASLA; Sean Kois

University of Virginia

Living After the Feedlot: Restoring Yucatán’s Karst Territory

Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico; Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico

Yuhan Wu, Student International ASLA; Qiujing Ma, Student International ASLA; Yu Zhu, Student International ASLA; Qingyuan Li, Student International ASLA; Hua Wu, Student International ASLA; Luqi Bai, Student International ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Xiangrong Wang Intl ASLA; Fang Wei

Beijing Forestry University

Rooted Futures: Multi-Temporal Strategies for Coastal Tree Systems

Los Angeles, California, United States

Kongxi Zhu, Student International ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Bas Smets

Harvard University

Form Follows Forest: A Tree Driven Urban Design for Charlestown, MA

Charlestown, Boston, MA

Michael Rahtz, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Karen Lee Bar-Sinai

Harvard University

A Ground for Change: Regenerating Cultural Landscapes on Pine Island

Pine Island, Florida, United States

Hayden Germanis, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Jules Bruck, FASLA

University of Florida

Tracks of Transfer

Cuba, MO

Kaitlin Sampson, Associate ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Montserrat Bonvehi Rosich

Washington University in St. Louis

Making Up Ground: New Language for the Wasteland

Palmerton, Pennsylvania, United States

Allison Swanka, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Kristi Cheramie; Parker Sutton

Ohio State University

Communications

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Award of Excellence

What's Your Sign?

Location: Waverly, PA; Eugene, OR
Students: Janessa Beltran; Trevor Hattabaugh, Student ASLA; Macie Kelley; Keith Stanley; Aidan Tepema, Student ASLA; Sabine Winkler
Faculty Advisor(s): David Borden; Nancy Silvers; Ian Vierck; Ashley Ferguson
School: University of Oregon

The Fieldscape Fellowship project, titled "What's Your Sign?" explored the folk graphics and historic timber frame barns of rural Pennsylvania to communicate environmental narratives relative to agricultural practices. The project's stories cover a range of often-contradictory attitudes, beliefs, and opinions related to productive landscapes. The Fieldscape Fellowship aimed to foster constructive conversations relative to environmental education and landscape stewardship through design research and community-making.

What's Your Sign?

Communications

Honor Awards

Paillettesage

Eugene, OR

Cassandra Lanson, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Laurie Matthews, FASLA

University of Oregon

Root and Relationship: Sharing the Complexities of Planting Design

Athens, GA

Emily Harvard, Student ASLA; Aedan Rosolia, Student ASLA; Rachel Dingley, Student ASLA; Jessica Spires, Student ASLA; Dailey Jackson, Student ASLA; Marne Smith, Student ASLA; Abby Burts, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Jessica Fernandez, ASLA; Uiqi Yang; Jennifer Lewis

University of Georgia

Growing Impact: Advancing Knowledge of Urban Desert Tree Care

Tucson, AZ

Ashley Zahri Danforth, Student ASLA; Robin Tittelbaugh; Xavier Fernandez, Student ASLA; Danielle Covey, Student ASLA; Esmeralda Carrasco, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Bo Yang, FASLA

University of Arizona

Research

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Award of Excellence

Between Line and Land

Location: Canada; United States Prairie Borderlands
Hannah Whitlaw, Student ASLA
School: University of British Columbia
Faculty Advisor(s): Sara Jacobs

This project uses historical and archival research to examine the enduring impacts of early colonial surveying on Indigenous sovereignty, more-than-human agency, and the organization of prairie land in North America. Working through the primary source, historic archive of the North American Boundary Commission, which between 1872 and 1876 demarcated the Canada-U.S. border along the 49th parallel, the project critically re-reads the colonial archive through drawings, mappings, and a counter-archive assembled from reworked archival fragments. In doing so, it positions historical research as a creative methodology for landscape architecture, opening alternative ways to understand, inhabit, and imagine prairie borderlands today.

Between Line and Land

Research

Honor Awards

When Heat Does Not Stop Walking? Landscape Adaptation for Older Adults

Houston, TX

Yining Liu, Student ASLA; Xiaoyu Li, Assoc. ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Jingxi Peng; Robert Brown; Dongying Li

Texas A&M University

Tangier Island Watermen Working Landscape

Tangier, VA

Lincoln Landon Lewis, Student ASLA; William Packwood

Faculty Advisor(s): Barbara Brown Wilson; Erin Putalik; Tanya Denckla Cobb; Elizabeth Meyer, FASLA; Karen McGlathery

University of Virginia

Safety Beyond Surveillance: Guidelines for Safe Urban Public Spaces

Florida

Samantha Fajardo, Assoc. ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Gianno Feoli

Florida International University

Student Collaboration

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Award of Excellence

The Firelighters

Location: Davis, CA
Students: Nicholas Hardt-Mason, Student ASLA; Helene Hoffman; Stasha Leonard; Amber Lin; Vallerie Morones, Student ASLA; Mary Kate O'Connor, Student ASLA; Fermin Pereira; Simone Shupper; Eavan Swanson; Lauren Swing, Student ASLA
School: University of California, Davis
Faculty Advisor(s): Emily Schlickman, ASLA

Over ten weeks, eleven landscape architecture and environmental design students trained as prescribed fire practitioners and volunteered on seven burns with community partners. Their service helped to expand prescribed fire capacity, shift wildfire perceptions, and move design education closer to practice, from simply drawing fire on paper to tending it. Working with fire professionals, landowners, prescribed burn associations, fire ecologists, and Indigenous practitioners, students advanced beneficial fire as a key strategy for reducing risk in fire-prone landscapes. The cohort now serves as an on-call volunteer crew, developing a public exhibition on fire messaging, establishing a long-term fire plot, and mentoring future Firelighters.

The Firelighters

Honor Awards

UnderStory

Gainesville, FL

Jack Taks, Student ASLA; Hayden Germanis, Student ASLA; Elena Papadopoulos, Student ASLA; Sophia Ward, Student ASLA; Desi Roch-Hernandez, Student ASLA; Daniela Mora, Student ASLA; Matthew Sinclair, Student ASLA; Sayra Marisa Cortes, Student ASLA; Ethan Feinberg

Faculty Advisor(s): Aishwarya Shankar

University of Florida

One Health Games: Playful Learning for Riverine Resilience

Iquitos, Loreto/Maynas, Peru

Janhavi Rajwade, Student ASLA; Tyler Atkinson; Aidan Bastarrika, Student ASLA; Delaney Beal, Student ASLA; Alexis Coyle; Shanu Gopinathan; Rida Hamid; Jisbelle Rodemaker; Madeleine Ryan, Associate ASLA; Charell Walter, Student ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Leann Andrews; Rebecca Bachman, Student Affiliate ASLA

Pennsylvania State University

Harper Preserve: Agrivoltaic Research Park + Community Center

Argentine Township, MI

Kayla Vaccaro, Student ASLA; Zhiyu Guo, Student ASLA; Kate Perazzo; Yunjia Zou; Daniela Cruciani

Faculty Advisor(s): Yekang Ko

University of Michigan

Mayors' Workshop: A Civic Hydrology for Brewers Creek Watershed

Webster City, IA

Abby Ehrle, Student ASLA; Reagan Vogelaar, Student ASLA; Ian Cuvelier, Student ASLA; Emma Livingston, Student ASLA; Haley Christoffer, Student ASLA; Nolan Bradley, Student ASLA; Mason Baber, Student ASLA; Cash Lilly, Student ASLA; Dominic Balestrieri-Fox, Student ASLA; Nick Hansen, Student ASLA; Abbey Nees, Student ASLA; Sydney Brunaugh, Student ASLA; Adam Larson, Student ASLA; Garrett Malaise, Student ASLA; Eric Hall, Student ASLA; Mouri Tabassum, Student ASLA; Ben Stocksleger; Elise Henrichsen; Lucas Woodbury; Eli Gannon; Usman Daudpota; Raina Pfeifer; Bailey Kyle-Laidlaw; Sydney Chin; Liza Walker; Landon Bettis; Garrett Christensen; Katherine Benscoter; Aiden Bower; Mia Waid; Carter Clayber; Dominic Scudieri Ethan Jost; Michael Folsom

Faculty Advisor(s): Austin Dunn, ASLA

Iowa State University

Student Community Service

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Award of Excellence

Labores y Diseños

Location: Fort Collins, CO
Students: Lilliana Lopez, Bianca Ruiz Chavez;  Louise Halaburt, Student ASLA
Faculty Advisor(s): Lindsay Burnette, ASLA
School: Colorado State University (BSLA)  

Student-organized pro bono community initiative in partnership with a local immigrant rights organization to honor immigrant labor in the landscape architecture profession. The program included a film screening and an interdisciplinary panel with leaders in landscape architecture, landscape contracting, and construction, creating space for dialogue on ethical labor practices, recognition, and care for immigrant workers. The team raised $7,000 to fund the event, support invited speakers, provide meals for attendees, and donate surplus funds to the community partner.

Labores y Diseños

Student Community Service

Honor Awards

Rooted Together: Where campus and community find common ground

Suwon City, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea

Sieun Oh, Student Intl ASLA; Nakyung Kim, Student Intl ASLA; Jiu Kim, Student Intl ASLA

Faculty Advisor(s): Hyeyoung Choi, ASLA

Sung Kyun Kwan University

Learning Through Motion: A Landscape Shaped by Elementary Students

Starkville, MS

Rachel N Bowers, Student ASLA; Xauvion Ross, Student ASLA; Travis Bryan; Fahim Quazi, Assoc ASLA; Katherine Barlow; Conner Griffin; Audria Hicks; Brianna Jackson; Isabella Jones; Jacob Lindley; Caya Perry; Jacob Land, Assoc. ASLA; Jacquelyn Smith; Natalie Bowers

Faculty Advisor(s): Peter Summerlin; Simon Powney; Casey Johnson; Abbey Franovich, ASLA

Mississippi State University

Thank You to Our Presenting Sponsor