50 YEARS+
Maryland Chapter  

 

Ralph J. D'Amato, Jr., FASLA

Where are you from and how long have you been a landscape architect? I grew up on a farm in Agawam, Massachusetts which is just west of Springfield in the Connecticut River valley. I started practice as a landscape architect in 1959 How did you begin your career journey in Landscape architecture? In the area in which I lived there were no landscape architects and the closest thing I could see that wanted to be was a landscape contractor as I was very much into planting design and installation. At the urging of my agriculture teacher I went to college and once there learned of landscape architecture. What do you think is the most important issue facing landscape architects today? Dealing with climate change. What have you gained by being a member of ASLA for 53 years? I gained many friendships many of whom have passed away (Darwina Neal, Larry and Bea Coffin, Edward Ballard, Raymond Freeman, Don Hower among some). Many of them helped me gain a position as a Landscape Architect at various government agencies. What would you share with others as a reason for belonging to ASLA as a member? Opportunity for great friendship with people who understand your interests. Educational opportunities. Chance to hear of job opportunities.  What is your favorite project in your career and why? My favorite project was the whole final 8 years of my 31 year federal government career. My title was Project Manager and I did not have to have management duties over staff. I received the projects requested by the 36 national cemeteries in my region (the South) and I could call on what staff I needed to assist me (always the same engineer from the regional office and a landscape architect from my office as we worked well together) along with outside design companies to get them designed and constructed. I had significant influence on design and responsibility to get them to construction completion. What in your view is the most important thing that landscape architects provide? I believe most of the landscape architects on a design team have the ability to achieve the best overall analysis of the problems to be solved without the ego trip of many disciplines. They can pull the team together on a design solution. Is there anything else you would like to share to commemorate your 53 years with ASLA? I was in my eighth year of working in Washington area and very unhappy with my current job as a designer/salesman for a landscape nursery when I received a phone call from an older gentleman in the local ASLA chapter. He told me he had heard of a position open for a landscape architect in the National Cemetery System that my strengths in plant material design, installation and maintenance would fit very well. That referral began my over 50 years of expertise in national cemetery and private cemetery design.

50 YEARS+
Texas Chapter  

 

Michael D. Murphy, PhD, ASLA

Where are you from and how long have you been a landscape architect? I am from Texas and I have been a landscape architect since 1966 when I finished my degree at Texas A&M University. How did you begin your career journey in Landscape architecture? My career journey is not unlike that of many other people who were unaware of the profession when they attended college. After completing a degree in ecological management, I discovered landscape architecture, which, after a few years, I returned to college to study. My first job was with Eckbo, Dean, Austin & Williams in San Francisco after I moved to California for graduate study. Don Austin, who had graduated from Texas A&M, gave me a chance with a part-time job in their office, even though their entry-level positions were already full. What do you think is the most important issue facing landscape architects today? The most important issue we face today is how to respond to the demands of accelerating urban growth in a time of climate change. In my view, too many university degree programs inadequately prepare graduates with the scientific background to fully understand or to respond most effectively to the complex and dynamic nature of the change we must address. To successfully respond to these emerging conditions will require a paradigm shift in design thinking to transition to a new and more comprehensive approach to design if we are to resolve this existential crisis—which can only be accomplished through close collaboration with the other professions and stakeholders involved in urban development: or, in the more likely event, urban redevelopment as we change how we will live with a rapidly warming global environment. One of the most important aspects of responding to that change is to develop leaders with interdisciplinary management skills, who can bring out the best in others without the burden of thinking that we might know best. What have you gained by being a member of ASLA for 50 years? I think the most important thing I have gained as an ASLA member has been the opportunity to join with colleagues across the state and the country in defining and expressing in a coherent voice about our design role among the creative professions and how we our design concepts improving the living environment without doing unintended harm to urban or natural ecosystems. What would you share with others as a reason for belonging to ASLA as a member? The responsibilities we assume as landscape architects are too great for any of us to achieve alone. Without a collective voice, we will be unable to meet our full potential as individual designers or as a profession. Without sharing what we learn, individual learning curves will take too long to catch up with a rapidly changing environment. E pluribus unam is a good motto for success.  What would you share with those new to the profession of landscape architecture? Keep an open mind and learn something new every day—about what the problems you are to solve really are, what their context is, and how that context will influence what you and those you collaborate with can do to improve quality of life, and what kind of relationships you will need to create through design to make the shared landscape a better place. The world is changing too fast to rely on yesterday’s understanding or yesterday’s design ideas to make meaningful contributions toward solving the problems you will face. Perhaps the most important thing to learn is whether what we think, based on past experience, is actually relevant in a changed world, and if not, what should it be? What is your favorite project in your career and why?  To pick a single project, the one I liked best may have been the redevelopment of an industrial island into an ecologically sensitive waterfront community on the Indian Ocean. However, every project I worked on was my favorite at that moment. I pick this project because it was the result of a collaboration among many planning, engineering, environmental, financial and design disciplines to orchestrate the technical, social, and ecological outcomes to create a sustainable and enjoyable place to live. What in your view is the most important thing that landscape architects provide? I’m not sure there is any single most important thing. There is no such thing as a silver bullet in landscape architecture. For clients, the most important thing a good design does comes in multiples: a good design saves resources (money, time, energy, etc.), it makes optimal use of all the client’s resources (features of the site, capital, views, stakeholder relationships, etc.), it avoids mistakes in site development and organization (function, safety, phasing, missed opportunities, etc.), it eliminates or reduces future functional conflicts (pedestrian and vehicular traffic, incompatible activities, social interactions, etc.), it limits the need for maintenance (irrigation, cleaning, repair, redevelopment, etc.), it identifies and creates opportunities that were not foreseen, it helps clients to fully understand the problems they seek to resolve, and provides them with reasonable options for development to enable them make informed decisions about how they might best proceed in a way that satisfies their—not the designer’s—intentions, values, and preferences. For society (as individuals and society in general), a good design integrates and reinforces existing landscape organization and ecological health, reduces negative impacts (energy demands or flooding potential), it improves the perceptual and utilitarian experience of a setting, and finally, it creates a more comprehensible, environmentally, culturally, and historically relevant and cherished sense of place in the local environment. Is there anything else you would like to share to commemorate your 50 years with ASLA? I believe that there are three indispensable aspects of a successful life and a successful design practice. One is the possession of knowledge, which must be constantly nourished and improved. The second is creativity: an ability to formulate novel, useful ideas to resolve problems (both those known and those emerging) and to create new opportunities (for the present and for the future). Creative thinking relies on the cognitive ability to think critically and innovatively, and the willingness to objectively assess the utility and appropriateness of ideas before setting them loose on society. Finally, a designer must find ways to regularly close off the noise of contemporary society, get off their devices with their constant stream of incoming messages, and take time to reflect on what they know, what they do, and what they desire to achieve. It is useful for one’s health and necessary for one’s ability to design well. To accomplish these as a member of a professional body, each person’s work contributes to a collective ethic and body of work. All these are advanced by active participation in ASLA, from which members benefit as well as contribute.  The world is too full of wonderful landscapes for me to choose a favorite place. My goal is to enjoy as many of them as the few years one’s life will permit.

20 YEARS+
Texas Chapter  

 

Margarita Padilla-Posey, ASLA

Where are you from and how long have you been a landscape architect? I graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor's in landscape architecture from Texas A&M university. Became licensed in 2014. I’ve been working as a landscape designer/architect since graduation. So 18 years!! How did you begin your career journey in Landscape architecture? During college I suppose as an intern for LandDesign in Alexandria, VA. I did a long internship of 8 months. Then my first full time job was with Coleman and Associates in Austin, Texas. What do you think is the most important issue facing landscape architects today? I would say is the challenge of people not knowing what we do for a living. I think it’s getting better and people now understand and identify that what we do for the world is important. But there is still so much to do in educating people. That I believe also feds into being respected as a profession and as a professional. What have you gained by being a member of ASLA for 20 years? A lot!! I believe in ASLA and mostly in its capacity to help network and educate within the profession. When 2009 hit and I was laid off it was ASLA that kept me current and within the profession. I truly believe being a part of ASLA helped me keep my network and continue working as a landscape architect. What would you share with others as a reason for belonging to ASLA as a member? It is truly a place that helps you grow and learn as a landscape architect. Provides you with opportunities to network with other landscape architects. ASLA helps maintain our profession engaged in legislature and defend our license. That is no little task!! What would you share with those new to the profession of landscape architecture? Being a landscape architect is so rewarding. Yes, it’s sometimes hard and very demanding but it is also a profession that gives back to the community, to ecology, to earth. It is all encompassing. I truly love what I do and wouldn’t change it for the world. What is your favorite project in your career and why? Would you like to submit/share a picture of it? My favorite project thus far has been designing a splash pad with hippopotamus bronze statues. The splash pad is small in scale but it meant so much to me because it really helped bring the symbol of the city to a different level and provided for an amenity kids can enjoy.  What in your view is the most important thing that landscape architects provide? A sense of balance amongst design professions. I have this t-shit that says “I’m a landscape architect, we solve problems you didn’t know you had”. I love it because it summarizes our every day professional experience with projects. We are the ultimate problem solvers and we create art that people can interact with. That is so beautiful and rewarding. Is there anything else you would like to share to commemorate your 20 years with ASLA? I just want to say I am surprised it’s been that long!!! Life has gone by and provided me with so many blessings and being in this profession and known so many wonderful people along the way has only made it better.

30 YEARS
Ohio Chapter
Peggy Brown, ASLA 

Pennsylvania/Delaware Chapter
Nancy Minich, ASLA  

New Members
Boston Chapter 
Harland Grinis Nadeau, Associate ASLA
Kurt Petschke, ASLA 

California Northern Chapter
Hanting Xie, ASLA 

Colorado and Wyoming Chapter
Robert VanDop, ASLA 

Michigan Chapter
Ryan P. Johnson, ASLA 

Minnesota Chapter
Kjersti Monson, Affiliate ASLA
Ethan Ridgewell, Associate ASLA
Liwen Shi, Associate ASLA 

New York Chapter
Quentin Brathwaite, Affiliate ASLA 

Ohio Chapter
Nathaniel Huntley Adams, ASLA
Kelly Yoder, Affiliate ASLA 

Oregon Chapter
Erin Duffy Jones, ASLA 

Pennsylvania/Delaware Chapter
Marzia Micali, Associate ASLA 

Prairie Gateway Chapter
Kent Lauridsen, Affiliate ASLA  

Texas Chapter
Jonathan Williams, ASLA 

Washington Chapter
Annaliese Chapa, ASLA
Scott Evans, ASLA  

Student
Reagan Abbott, Student ASLA
Griffin Abele-Younger, Student ASLA
Sarah AbuDakar, Student ASLA
Grace Ackerman, Student ASLA
Alexis Alaniz, Student ASLA
Brett Martin Albright, Student ASLA
Madison Allen, Student ASLA
Sama Atmashakti Ananda, Student ASLA
Carol Anderson, Student ASLA
Providence Antrim, Student ASLA
Monica Arizmendi, Student ASLA
Bronte Bagwell, Student ASLA
Dylan Baird, Student ASLA
Rodrigo Becerra, Student ASLA
Owen Biggs, Student ASLA
Nazareth Blair, Student ASLA
Nadia Blecic, Student ASLA
Rekiyah Bobbitt, Student ASLA
Adam Boden, Student ASLA
Aven Brasher, Student ASLA
Jacob Paul Bratsch, Student ASLA
Jacob Brooks, Student ASLA
Jaylin Brown, Student ASLA
Phoebe Brown, Student ASLA
Skylar Brown, Student ASLA
Kristin Byrd, Student ASLA
Luis Caldera, Student ASLA
Madison Camisa, Student ASLA
Aaro Carmona Mancera, Student ASLA
Rachel Carr, Student ASLA
Matthew Carver, Student ASLA
Issy Cassou, Student ASLA
Zachary Castleman, Student ASLA
Ella Chaffee, Student ASLA
Daniel Clarke, Student ASLA
Elijah Cohen, Student ASLA
Cameron Coless, Student ASLA
Gabrielle Collins, Student ASLA
Elyse Cooke, Student ASLA
Molly Crecelius, Student ASLA
Esteban Cuellar Gutierrez, Student ASLA
Yanyao Cui, Student ASLA
Gabriela Damiecka, Student ASLA
Carl Deo, Student ASLA
Anna Desmone, Student ASLA
Dante DiBenedetto, Student ASLA
Jessica Duarte, Student ASLA
Sam Charles Dunker, Student ASLA
Anna Earley, Student ASLA
Shiloh Egan, Student ASLA
Abby Ehrle, Student ASLA
Cole Etchison, Student ASLA
Will Fantle, Student ASLA
Erik Feher, Student ASLA
Alexandra Fuentes, Student ASLA
Abigail Garner, Student ASLA
Austin Gieseke, Student ASLA
Caressa D. Givens, Student ASLA
Isabel Goodin, Student ASLA
Jessica Goralski, Student ASLA
Aline Gregorio, Student ASLA
Daniel Gross, Student ASLA
Marc Grossberg, Student ASLA
Tori Gruber, Student ASLA
Johnathan Hampton, Student ASLA
Nia Harris, Student ASLA
Alex A. Hauffe, Student ASLA
Carissa Hecker, Student ASLA
Jordan Henn, Student ASLA
Bryan Hernandez, Student ASLA
Josh Hixon, Student ASLA
Hunter Hodges, Student ASLA
Paige Hughart, Student ASLA
Karen Hunt, Student ASLA
Kinzer Hurt, Student ASLA
Anh Huynh, Student ASLA
Dae-Hyun Jin, Student ASLA
Katelin Johnson, Student ASLA
Merideth Johnson, Student ASLA
Nicholas Jones, Student ASLA
Aditi Kapoor, Student ASLA
Gerald Jacob Keller, Student ASLA
Keniyah Kelly, Student ASLA
Lauren Kennedy, Student ASLA
Ryann King, Student ASLA
Zena Kolbe-Saltzman, Student ASLA
Juen Kristen, Student ASLA
Natalie Kroger, Student ASLA
Peyton Kroh, Student ASLA
Jonathan Lagunas, Student ASLA
Dylan Lahey, Student ASLA
Adam Larson, Student ASLA
Jacob Lavigne, Student ASLA
Briana Lazo, Student ASLA
Stephen Lehman, Student ASLA
Norah Li, Student ASLA
Xinyi Li, Student ASLA
Johanna Livermore, Student ASLA
Danielle Lowe, Student ASLA
Wyatt Lunn, Student ASLA
Melissa Lynn Montoya, Student ASLA
Runchuang Ma, Student ASLA
Jenna Marsh, Student ASLA
Michael McClelland, Student ASLA
Carsen McDuff, Student ASLA
Mitchell Miller, Student ASLA
Graham Miner, Student ASLA
Michael Mitchell, Student ASLA
Ashley Moore, Student ASLA
Presley Moreno, Student ASLA
Jannatul Ferdous Mou, Student ASLA
Chris Murphy, Student ASLA
Stephanie Narcisse, Student ASLA
Lacey M. Neimeier, Student ASLA
Kolby Nielsen, Student ASLA
Anya Nona, Student ASLA
Barbara Nuñez, Student ASLA
Joseph Oguns, Student ASLA
Matt Kyle Parsons, Student ASLA
Nahuel Patino, Student ASLA
Mark Penaran, Student ASLA
Julia Penick, Student ASLA
Walker Petersen, Student ASLA
Tiana Peterson, Student ASLA
Trenton James Pharis, Student ASLA
Jaden Polidore, Student ASLA
Elijah Ramirez, Student ASLA
Ericka Ramirez, Student ASLA
Justin Reynoso-Ramirez, Student ASLA
Chloe Roberts, Student ASLA
Katelyn Rockey, Student ASLA
Alejandra Rodriguez Regis, Student ASLA
Luis David Roscero Cervantes, Student ASLA
Olivia Rothstein, Student ASLA
Natalia Salomon, Student ASLA
Stewart Sharun, Student ASLA
Jaliyah Shepherd, Student ASLA
Alan (Liangjie) Shi, Student ASLA
John Slinkman, Student ASLA
Saira Soto, Student ASLA
Kayla Stevens, Student ASLA
Caroline Stucky, Student ASLA
Katalina Tanner, Student ASLA
Iris Tapia, Student ASLA
Aidan Teppema, Student ASLA
Trevor Thomas, Student ASLA
Daniel Alejandro Vasquez, Student ASLA
Zahira Vega, Student ASLA
Robert Vibert, Student ASLA
Alexa Warren, Student ASLA
Sydney Weintz, Student ASLA
Lorren Weller, Student ASLA
Lauren Welsh, Student ASLA
Elle Wertish, Student ASLA
Julia Wilkerson, Student ASLA
Jason Wong, Student ASLA
Pengling Xia, Student ASLA
Astrid Yankosky, Student ASLA
Sanam Ziaei Ansaroudi, Student ASLA  

Student Affiliate 
Hannah Booth, Student Affil ASLA
Valerie Capone, Student Affil ASLA
Nancy Chubb, Student Affil ASLA
Jacob Grenoble, Student Affil ASLA
Maryam Hashim, Student Affil ASLA
Amber Lindsey, Student Affil ASLA
Crystal Odoh, Student Affil ASLA
Aaron Osowski, Student Affil ASLA
Andrew Schilz, Student Affil ASLA
Maureen Shelley, Student Affil ASLA
Stephanie Stoker, Student Affil ASLA
Mahder Teferra, Student Affil ASLA
Grace Wiggins, Student Affil ASLA
Ryalnd Wilde, Student Affil ASLA 

Student International
Mehdi Parsa, Student Intl ASLA