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The Landscape Architecture Department is pleased to recognize the accomplishments of our alumni. We trust that you will have as many memories and discoveries reading as we did compiling the news. We are proud of your achievements and hope that you will stay in touch with your Alma Mater. Please use our Alumni News Form to let us know what you are doing.
Alumni News
Randalle Hunt Moore (1980) was featured in the Winter 2012 edition of the CAED's "Connections" magazine. The article describes how Hunt Moore and her firm, Moore Planning Group, were hired by FEMA to transform some of the areas in Louisiana affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, including the award-winning Lakefront Promenade and Bord du Lac Marina at Lake Charles, dedicated in September 2010, that includes a 2,700 foot pedestrian walkway, decorative paving and lighting, benches, landscaping, and public art.
Craig Waltz (2004) was featured in Cal Poly's Mustang Daily in an article by journalism major Meghan Legg. Legg writes that Waltz is wrapping up the construction documents for the local skate area in San Luis Obispo's Santa Rosa Park, the exact location and subject of his senior project. Waltz is a project manager with Wormhoudt Inc., a firm specializing in skate park design. To read the Mustang Daily article, click here.
Christine Anderson (1988) has been elected as Region V Director for the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB). Prior to becoming a CLARB Regional Director, Anderson was a member of CLARB's Task Analysis Focus Group in 2010 and has attended various CLARB Annual and Spring Meetings as a representative from the California Landscape Architects Technical Committee. Anderson has served on the California Landscape Architects Technical Committee since 2003. She is currently the Board Chair and served as the Board Vice Chair in 2006 and 2010. Anderson also served as a member of the Education Subcommittee (2005-2009). Additionally, she has been involved with the Sierra Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects since 1991 serving as Member-at-Large, Secretary, President-Elect, President, and Past-President. She was the Sierra Chapter's delegate to the California Council of Landscape Architects from 1996 to 1998 and served on the Landscape Architecture Department Advisory Council at Cal Poly (2003-2007); as a Board Member of the Laguna Creek Watershed Council (2010-present); and as a volunteer with the Stones Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (2006-present and the Sacramento Urban Creeks Council (1998-present).
Jerico Farfan (2000), from ima design, came to campus in November 2011 to present to David Watts's LA 404-Cultural Environments Design Focus Studio and to Astrid Reeves's LA 202-Design Fundamentals I studio. His presentation was on designing for a "sense of place." Farfan shared his process and approach to the issue by making every place special and memorable. He talked about his career since graduation and provided a life perspective regarding the profession. He shared his experiences as a former student, as a consultant with Disney Imagineering, and his work for a developer in Irvine, CA. He discussed the future of communication tools, how he uses them, and what students should be ready to employ in their work.
Lindsay Ringer (2009) worked as an AmeriCorps summer student intern at Piedras Blancas Light Station helping with tours, visitor services, and with eradication of non-native plant species. She is planning to return to graduate school for a Masters in Restoration Ecology. She spent the last two years working for the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board creating geographic information system maps and doing data analysis for the Agricultural Regulatory Program.
Michele Slater (2009) is pursuing a Master of Engineering (MEng) in Sustainable Infrastructure at the University of Colorado, with a projected graduation date of June 2013.
Baxter Miller (1978) is President Elect of the Southern California Chapter of ASLA. Miller moved to Corona, CA in the summer of 1978 where he has remained in the practice of landscape architecture ever since. He obtained his CA license in 1982. He and his wife Debbie have their own firm in Corona, BMLA Landscape Architects, which they established in 1987.
Jacob Mar (2006) has joined Mountain-View, CA-based Jenna Bayer Garden Design according to AsianWeek online. Mar was introduced to clients and prospective clients at an outdoor party in Saratoga, CA where the firm's design work was showcased. Jenna Bayer has designed gardens for Bay Area homes and beyond for a wide ranging list of clients. To read the article about Mar, click here.
Colin Miller (2006) and Navid Mostatabi (2006) received eight awards at the 2011 Paul Ecke Jr. Flower & Garden Show at the San Diego County Fair for their design-build firm, Envision Landscape Studio. The garden's theme was "Keep it Local, San Diego," and showcased local materials such as cobblestones, native plants, locally manufactured LED lighting,and water harvesting and greywater displays. The goal was to educate the public on sustainable landscape principles while creating a space that could easily fit into a residential lot. Awards included an Award of Merit, Environmental Award, New Exhibitor Award, and Unique Landscape Award. In addition, Miller and Mostatabi received the American Horticultural Society's Environmental Award; an Agri Service award for best use of mulch; a MiraCosta College Department award for successfully integrating principles of sustainability, functionality, and aesthetics; and the San Diego Horticultural Society's Best Expression of Garden Education Award. To see some images of their garden, click here.
Desi Bogdanova (2011), together with her sister, has opened a fresh olive oil boutique, Oliovera, in Hermosa Beach, CA. The shop specializes in selling certified extra virgin olive oil produced by family olive farms in central and northern California. To read more about Desi's new business venture, click here.
Leslie A. Ryan (1988) is Chair of the Landscape Architecture program at the NewSchool of Architecture and Design in San Diego, CA. The program has its first cohort of MLA students and will be offering a BLA in Fall 2011.
Michael Sanchez (1996) completed his MLA in December 2010 at University of Oregon. His master's project was a visual essay of Mission Santa Barbara. His project's focus was on visual communications and new methods for visually exploring and documenting a place. He was the 2008 recipient of the GCA/Douglas Dockery Thomas Fellowship in Garden History and Design. This $4,000 fellowship award helped Michael fund expenses for a two-week research trip to the Mission and its archive. To download his master's thesis, "Mission Santa Barbara / Visually Explored," click here. Michael works for Schirmer Satre Group in Eugene, Oregon as Senior Landscape Architect.
Todd Davis (1996) is the author of "Handy Dad: 25 Awesome Projects for Dads and Kids," published in 2010 by Chronicle Books LLP. Another book, "Handy Dad in the Great Outdoors," is in the works. Todd is also the main host of the HGTV show, Room Crashers. He owns Epic Spaces, a landscape architecture design/build firm, in San Francisco, CA and, in his spare time, he enjoys wingsuit flying.
David R. Gal (1987) was SWA Group's primary on-site Landscape Architect for the Burj Khalifa Tower Park in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and was responsible for the landscape construction administration of the project's 27-acre site. Working in close collaboration with Skidmore Owings & Merrill (architects), SWA's landscape design surrounding the Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest building - includes the park plazas, oasis gardens, water fountains, and streetscape for downtown Burj Dubai - a new urban center in metropolitan Dubai.
Cameron Hockenson (2002) is an artist Fellow at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, CA, as part of its Sculpture on the Grounds program. He is working on a site-specific installation, "Control Tower," that integrates nesting sites, experimental coded sound responses to live bird song, and birdscaping to increase habitat for populations in the area. In Fall 2020, Cameron was an artist Fellow in residence at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France where he developed two site installations and a series of drawings reconstructing neolithic, ancient, and modern relationships to the Mediterranean landscape.
Rob Maday (2004) has designed and developed a California-based web resource and online community, LandscapeResource.com. The web site was launched in October 2010. The site offers landscape design tools and resources for home gardeners and California landscape professionals. It presents California landscape ideas, practical tips for designing California native gardens, provides a venue for landscape photo sharing, and suggests real-life solutions for sustainable garden design.
Jeffrey Gordon Smith (1989), the principal at Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture, created a garden exhibit for the 2011 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, March 23-27, at the San Mateo Event Center, and tied with Sandy Ayers (1995) for the top, "Best in Show,"Award, the Golden Gate Cup, for the most overall meritorious exhibit. The exhibit also received a show record of an additional six recognition awards, including: the Garden Conservancy Award, for the garden most likely to withstand the test of time; the American Society of Landscape Architects Award; the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society Award; the Pacific Horticulture Magazine Award, for the garden that best demonstrates the regional nature of garden design; the Sunset Magazine Western Living® Award, for the garden most filled with fresh,useful, achievable ideas that enhance outdoor living in the West; and a Gold Medal Award for garden creation. The exhibit, "Pi r Squared," focused on sustainability, and incorporated ideas such as up-cycling, the goal of which is to prevent wasting potentially useful materials by making use of existing ones. The garden utilized discarded materials which were set to be recycled in conjunction with drought tolerant plantings. For more information about this exhibit, go to the Show's Gardens web page.
Sandy Ayers (1995), a partner at The Garden Route Company, also created a garden exhibit for the 2011 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, and tied with Jeffrey Gordon Smith (1989) for the top, "Best in Show,"Award, the Golden Gate Cup, for the most overall meritorious exhibit. The exhibit also won a Gold Medal Award. The exhibit, "A Garden for Life - To Fight, To Love, To Live," illustrated the Filoli Center's dedication to the preservation and stewardship of the land. The garden celebrated Filoli’s cultural tradition and its commitment to organic food production. The garden design reflected some of the traditional elements present in Filoli’s formal gardens, kitchen garden, walled garden, vegetable garden and orchard. The garden drew inspiration from the English renaissance and Celtic features present at Filoli. For more information about this exhibit, go to the Show's Gardens web page.
Dan Panetta (1976), a professor in the Cal Poly Architecture Department, died Monday, March 7, 2011, in San Luis Obispo. He was the first in his family to have earned a degree (Cal Poly, 1976, with a degree in Landscape Architecture, then master's from UC Berkeley, 1986). He joined the Department of Architecture at Cal Poly in 1986. He was a talented artist and rarely left home without his sketching journal, and he inspired his students to do the same. He also encouraged his students to be of service, most recently having coached winning teams of interdisciplinary students in statewide low-income housing challenge competitions. He was instrumental in developing a minor in Sustainable Environments and was a founding member of the Sustainable Environments Education (SEE Group) on the Cal Poly campus.
Brandon Medeiros, ASLA (2002), was one of 20 San Luis Obispo County residents chosen for The Tribune's 2010 "Top 20 Under 40" award. Medeiros works as a Senior Planner for Rick Engineering Company. He joined the firm in 2007 to establish a landscape architecture and urban design division in its San Luis Obispo office. Among his recent projects is the Grover Beach, CA West Grand Avenue Streetscape Enhancement. Medeiros volunteers as chairman for the REC Foundation, a non-profit fundraising corporation which works to create enhanced programs, places and open spaces for quality recreational experiences in Paso Robles. The Top 20 Under 40 awards honor young leaders who have demonstrated excellence in their field and a strong commitment to community service. The 2010 winners were selected from more than 80 nominees by a panel of judges from the San Luis Obispo Community Foundation. Winners were honored for their accomplishments at a special luncheon at the Madonna Inn January 27, 2011. For more information, see The Tribune article about the Top 20 Under 40 winners.
Paul Marcillac (1992), managing principal at Stantec in their Sacramento, CA planning and landscape architecture practice, has been named chair of the Landscape Architecture Department Advisory Council (LADAC) at Cal Poly. Marcillac, who has worked with the council for four years, will spend two years as chair.
The mission of the LADAC is to provide advice, advocacy, access, and leverage to assist with the acquisition of needed resources for the Department. Members include representatives from the design and planning professions, the green industry, developers, and government and public agencies that interact with the landscape architecture profession.
Susan Van Atta (1983) lectured on sustainable landscapes at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, CA on October 7, 2010. The lecture was sponsored by the San Diego Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Van Atta founded her own firm, Van Atta Associates, in 1985, and has a commitment to environmentally appropriate landscape design, habitat restoration, and the use of native plants.
Ryan Ihm (2007) is teaching Englilsh in South Korea.
Jacob Nesheim (2004) owns and operates Nesheim Landscape Inc., a firm that provides both landscape architectural and construction services throughout the Santa Barbara, CA area.
Scott Strand (2004) owns and operates ProAVA, a company that does home theater, whole-house audio/video systems, integration, lighting control, etc., primarily for custom homes.
Rachelle Sneh Lopez (2008) is the owner of a graphic design/clothing company, Off Axis Design/Disc Golf.
Adam Peltier (2007) and his wife, Marisa (Markowitz, also 2007), own Peltier Glassworks in Paso Robles, which is breaking into the region's wine industry by creating custom wine bottle labels printed directly on glass. According to Peltier, it's the only glass silk screening company on the Central Coast.
Sandy Ayers (1995), a partner at The Garden Route Company, created a garden exhibit for the 2010 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, March 24-28 at the San Mateo Event Center, and was awarded the top, "best in show," award, the Golden Gate Cup, for the most overall meritorious exhibit. The exhibit also won the Garden Conservancy award, for the garden most likely to withstand the test of time, and a Gold Medal award. In the exhibit, "Re-Generation: The World Without Us," the powerful forces of the natural world shape a post-apocalyptic landscape, a designed space transformed by the elements, yet still standing as a monument to sustainable design/build methods of the 21st century.
Tyler Rinehart (2010) and Katherine Lewis (2010) also won awards for the garden they created for the 2010 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. They received a Silver Medal award as well as the Pacific Horticulture Award for the garden that best demonstrated the regional nature of garden design. Their exhibit, "Pulling Up Daisies," was a conceptual design in which viewers found themselves in the moment of change as the landscapes of the past were peeled back to reveal a new palette of California native plant possibilities both beautiful and drought tolerant. To see pictures of Tyler and Kat's exhibit, go to Sunset Magazine's blog, Fresh Dirt. Sunset says, "we loved the concept behind this piece of actually peeling back the layers of destructive landscaping to reveal a lush new pallet of native plant possibilities."
Michael Brennan (2002) and his company, Urban Green Landscape Architecture, were profiled in the April 5, 2010 edition of SDGLN.com. The article discusses what inspired Brennan to choose landscape architecture as his college major, his professional design experience and portfolio, and how he has personally embraced "going green." The article reports that "Brennan can boast of a $13 SDG&E bill, he hangs his clothes to dry outside and, most impressively, he hasn't owned a car for almost three years. He relies on his bicycle and public transit."
Rick Stover (1984) and Andrea Swanson (BS, Horticulture, 1973) submitted the winning design for the Cal Poly 2010 Rose Parade float, "Jungle Cuts," which won both the Bob Hope Humor Award and the KTLA Viewers' Choice Award. Stover and Swanson are principals with Thomas Baak and Associates. The parade float, depicting five barber monkeys styling the hair of various "clients" including a giraffe with a beehive, a snake with a flat top and a zebra with a mohawk, received the Bob Hope trophy for being judged the most comical and amusing entry. It also received the most votes in the KTLA.com contest. KTLA is a television station in Los Angeles, CA. For more information, see the Cal Poly Rose Float web page.
Bianca Koenig (2002) was one of twenty San Luis Obispo County residents chosen for The Tribune's 2009 "Top 20 under 40" award. Koenig works as a landscape architect for the Wallace Group, a multi-disciplinary firm headquartered in San Luis Obispo. She serves on the board of the California Central Coast Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council to advocate sustainable design. She also helped found the Deanna Maran Foundation for Non-Violence after her sister's death in 2001. In its fifth year, the Top 20 under 40 awards honor young leaders who have demonstrated excellence in their field and a strong committment to community service. Candidates for the award were nominated on-line during November 2009, and a review panel from the San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation selected the winners in December 2009 at The Tribune's request. Winners were recognized for their accomplishments at a special luncheon at the Madonna Inn January 21, 2010. For more information, see The Tribune article about the Top 20 Under 40 winners.
Julia Schnorr (2008) has had a project she worked on during Spring 2009 at the University of Colorado-Denver featured in the October 2009 issue of Phoenix Magazine. The project -- designing scenic villages around dozens of Phoenix's unsightly canal sites -- was a joint studio between Arizona State University planning students and UCD urban design students, and was sponsored by Americorps. The two graphics featured in the article are from Schnorr's presentation. For further information about the "Canalscape" concept and to see Schnorr's graphics, go to the article on the Phoenix magazine website.
Scott Hazard (1996) had a show, Topographic Ruminations, at Artspace in Raleigh, NC running October 2-31, 2009, Raleigh Downtowner Magazine reports. Hazard graduated with an MFA with a focus on sculpture from the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. His undergraduate degree is in landscape architecture from Cal Poly. For further information about the show and Hazard's work, which aims to illuminate facets and poetic understandings of our world that are often unseen or unnoticed, go to the article on the Raleigh Downtowner website.
Sharon Finkle (2008) was featured in a Sunset Magazine on-line article about how she and her family designed and built their dream garden. For further information about this backyard makeover in San Jose, California, go to the article on the Sunset.com website.
Susan Van Atta (1983) was elected to the ASLA Council of Fellows,and was inducted as a Fellow at the 2009 ASLA Annual Meeting In Chicago. Van Atta was nominated by the Southern California Chapter of ASLA for the impressive body of work she has created with a two-decade-long commitment to environmentally appropriate landscape design, habitat restoration, and the use of native plants. Van Atta’s award-winning designs pay careful attention to form and detail, but her work transcends mere aesthetic improvements. Instead, she strives to “make places better” by regenerating the land, engaging the public in site understanding and stewardship, and promoting health for both people and the environment. Van Atta earned her bachelor of arts in environmental studies in 1977 from the University of California–Santa Barbara and her bachelor of science in landscape architecture in 1983 from California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo.
Members of the ASLA Council of Fellows are recognized for their extraordinary work, leadership, knowledge, and service to the profession over a sustained period of time. They may use the suffix "FASLA" after their names, denoting recognition of their achievements by their peers.
2008-2009 News
Tammara Norman (1992) received a certificate of appreciation from Petaluma’s Parks and Recreation Committee for work in organizing the "150 Trees for 150 Years: Celebrating Petaluma’s Sesquicentennial" program. The tree planting project made it possible to plant 150 trees in Petaluma. The idea for the project began in 2007 and brought over $50,000 back into the local economy. Photo by Nina Zhito.
For further information go to the article on the Petaluma360.com web site.