Even if You're a Night Owl, It's Time to be an Early Bird

June 17, 2025
Register now for MON-FS-04: Regional Planning, Local Adaptation: Climate Action in the City of Gretna to visit Gretna City Park, LA. / image: courtesy Amy Norval, ASLA, CARBO Landscape Architecture

Does the date Tuesday, June 24, ring any bells? Maybe you jotted it down back in May, or circled it in red on your calendar (or the online equivalent), and now it's a mere seven days away. Just in case you can't recall why June 24 is a big deal: it's the early bird deadline for the ASLA 2025 Conference on Landscape Architecture! Now is the time to get your plans in order so you can register at the best rate—prices rise after June 24. (Note: several field sessions have already sold out, so make sure you get those field session tickets ASAP. While you're perusing the conference's ticketed events, check out the deep dive sessions, too!)

140+ education sessions, 7 tracks, 430+ speakers. If you haven't had a chance to explore the education program yet, we're here to help you get started and to help you get in the proper conference registration mindset, with a look at the Professional Practice Network (PPN) leaders speaking in New Orleans.

PPN Leaders Speaking at the ASLA 2025 Conference on Landscape Architecture

Robert Ryan, FASLA

Community Design PPN Leader

Benjamin George, ASLA

Digital Technology PPN Leader

Phillip Fernberg, ASLA

Digital Technology PPN Leader

Sohyun Park, ASLA

Ecology & Restoration PPN Leader

Jim Cooper, ASLA

Ecology & Restoration PPN Leader

Sadik Artunc, FASLA

Education & Practice PPN Leader

Jessica Canfield, ASLA, PLA

Education & Practice PPN Leader

Luis Pérez, ASLA

Education & Practice PPN Leader

Rebecca Popowsky, ASLA

Education & Practice PPN Leader

Jennifer Dowdell, ASLA

Environmental Justice PPN Leader

Danielle Duhe, ASLA, PLA

Environmental Justice PPN Leader

Dou Zhang, FASLA, PLA, LEED AP, SITES AP

International Practice PPN Leader

Anne Spafford, ASLA

Planting Design PPN Leader

Learn how the Mississippi River has inadvertently laid the foundation for systemic exploitation, failed infrastructure, and widespread environmental injustice with FRI-FS-08: Water as Conduit of Violence: How the Mississippi River Shaped Cancer Alley. / image: Pilar Zuluaga, ASLA, Spackman Mossop Michaels

This list is just the current PPN leaders participating as education session speakers. Explore all 400+ conference speakers here. And if you're feeling inspired to get more involved, consider becoming a PPN leader yourself!

The big ASLA newsflash earlier today was the announcement of the 2025 Class of the Council of Fellows, several of whom have a PPN leadership connection (see below). These 50 members will be elevated during a special investiture ceremony at the 2025 Conference on Landscape Architecture. PPN leaders ascending to Fellowship status this October:

Chad Kennedy, ASLA

Westwood Professional Services, Modesto, California Children's Outdoor Environments PPN Leader

Lee R. Skabelund, ASLA

Kansas State University, Manhattan Ecology & Restoration PPN Leader

Gail Henderson-King, ASLA

Henderson-King Consulting, Burlington, Vermont Part of the Historic Preservation PPN's Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) Chapter Liaisons Network as the HALS Liaison for Vermont

Jeff Klein, ASLA

City of Detroit, Michigan Parks & Recreation PPN Leader

MON-FS-07: Living & Working with Water: Green Infrastructure and Workforce Development on Lafitte Greenway / image: courtesy Jason Neville, Lafitte Greenway Partnership

If you are especially keen on networking at ASLA 2025, then stay tuned—as you read this, PPN leaders are hard at work getting their PPN meeting plans in place. Later this summer, we will roll out the full PPN event schedule. To hold you over until then, check out some PPN highlights from ASLA 2024.

The 2024 Community Design PPN Meeting / image: Alexandra Hay

See you in New Orleans!