August 2015

In This Issue...

  1. President's Message
  2. Editor's Note
  3. Calling All Mentors! 
  4. #SDF2015 / Get Geared Up for Park(ing) Day
  5. Volunteer Highlight: Thanks, Lucas!
  6. The Duwamish Lighthouse: Interview with George Lee
  7. Green Gardening Workshop 2015: Resilient Landscapes for Our Changing Environment
  8. Founder's Day: The National Park Service Turns 99!
  9. Inclusive Play: Designing Outdoor Environments for Everyone
  10. Ken Struckmeyer Student Scholarship Endowment Fund
  11. Are You a Hiring Professional?
  12. Support the Kenichi Nakano Endowed Scholarship Fund for Landscape Architecture
  13. UW Landscape Architecture Internship/ Practicum Portal

Newsletter Editor

Stephanie Stroud


Events

Visit the WASLA Event Calendar for more information on events.


Our Sponsors

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 


Social Networks

     

WASLA Executive Committee

President
David Stipe, ASLA, LLA

Immediate Past President
Courtney Landoll, ASLA

Trustee
Curtis Lapierre, ASLA

Secretary-Treasurer
Dean Koonts, ASLA

Member at Large
Laura Thompson, ASLA

Member at Large
Marieke Lacasse, ASLA, LEED AP

Member at Large
Juanita Rogers, ASLA 


Join our list

.Join Our Mailing List

President's Message
David Stipe, ASLA, LLA 

For the last month or so, I have been slowly working my way through our membership rolls and cross-referencing them against the state’s list of licensed landscape architects.  The primary reason for my efforts was two-fold:

  1. To understand just how many practitioners in the state are not members of ASLA or WASLA.
  2. To get a sense for the distribution of members and licensed practitioners throughout the state. 

As most of you would instinctively realize, a majority of our members are located in King County and that same majority exists amongst the licensed LAs.  What surprised me the most is the number of non-member licensed LAs there are in Washington State.  Given the many important programs, initiatives, professional development and legislative efforts that are supported by not only your membership dollars, but your active participation in our chapter efforts, I was expecting to see a much higher rate of membership amongst our professions licensed practitioners.  Some 400 LAs and landscape designers, our chapter members, are doing significant work for so many more who are not active participants.  Over the next year, I would like to see the gap between members and non-members shrink by an admirable amount.  We are a larger state chapter than most states, but we by no means capture all, or even a majority of the licensed LAs as members or participants.  When you add in the non-licensed landscape designers in the state, which are difficult to track, the gap grows even more.      

Read more >>


Editor's Note
Stephanie Stroud

As the fireweed flowers get to the tips of their stems, fall approaches and school will soon be in session. If you can spare several hours in your workday, I urge you to become a student mentor. Not only will you help a student gain professional experience and have a glimpse into the life of an LA in the working world, that student can provide you with a fresh perspective and act as a reminder as to why you do the work you do. Who knows—maybe you’ll discover a landscape architecture prodigy! 

Speaking of fresh perspectives, don’t forget to join WASLA for (PARK)ing Day on September 18th, whether as a visitor or a parklet designer. We also have some announcements for new scholarships and classes, kudos for an all-star volunteer, and an interview with a landscape architect gone sculpture artist. Have something interesting to share? Don’t hesitate to hit me up at [email protected] for all of your announcement and editorial needs.  

Read more >>


Calling All Mentors!

Dear WASLA Members,

I am sending out the Call for Mentors early this year in the hope of building a team of 40-50 mentors for the upcoming school year at University of Washington. As always, we need your help to get started early and make this the most rewarding year yet for the mentorship program.

Participation is easy.  Please list your information below and send it back to me at [email protected].  Then the student representatives and I will pair you with a student by late September/early October and off you go!

Read more >>


#SDF2015 / Get Geared Up for Park(ing) Day!


Save the date: PARK(ing) Day is Friday, 9/18! 

Citizens across WA are encouraged to celebrate PARK(ing) Day by turning an ordinary parking space into a park for a day! To take part in the annual international event, contact your local DOT or municipality for participation guidelines for your area. To create a park in Seattle, visit SDOT’s website to download an application today. Applications are due on Aug 28th.

Read more >>


Volunteer Highlight: Thanks, Lucas!

It is my absolute pleasure to write this piece about a great friend, colleague, and fellow Coug - Lucas Vannice.  Lucas is our outstanding volunteer this month for the tremendous work he has put in as the Public Relations and Communications committee chair. Let's just say that he is perfect for this position, as he is one of the most outgoing and engaging individuals I've had the delight of meeting. You may have all met him at the last WASLA social at Site Workshop where he gave a totally rad presentation on this year's PARK(ing) Day event. But that's not all that he's been up to - as the chair of the PR&C committee he is responsible for helping to plan and publicize WASLA events such as Landscape Architecture Month, Chapter Initiative projects, and helping to coordinate educational outreach campaigns to engage students.

Read more >>


The Duwamish Lighthouse: Interview with George Lee


Giant metal containers, filled with anonymous contents, and enormous looming mechanical cranes greet you as you visit the Duwamish River. Barges float by, their massive loads heaving upstream beside a group of lazy seals and squawking birds, soaking up the sun. This is Seattle’s river—a place of rich and tumultuous history, of wild nature and industrial economy. It glows with cultural significance and life, and yet, is a Superfund site with sediment so toxic that it’s dangerous to eat the resident fish. Though the river appears, to many of Seattle’s inhabitants, to be used solely for shipping and industry, a summer long arts festival called Duwamish Revealed invites you to take a closer look at the many other happenings along Seattle’s only river.

Read more >>


Green Gardening Workshop 2015: Resilient Landscapes for Our Changing Environment

Wednesday, October 21, 2015
7:30 am to 4:00 pm (full and half day options)

South Seattle College
Fee: $30 full day; Spanish afternoon session (free)
*Pesticide recertification and continuing education credits offered.

Workshop topics include:

  • 2015 as 2070: Learning from Recent Extreme Weather
  • Green Infrastructure for a Changing Climate
  • The Landscape Professional’s Challenge: New Pests in a New Climate
  • Stormwater Pollution and Solutions that Protect Juvenile Salmon
  • Insect IPM, Plant Health Care, and Planting Right
  • Understanding and Managing the Effects of Climatic Variability and Change on Forest Landscapes
  • IN SPANISH! La biología y cuidado de los árboles – Tree Biology and Care

Read more >>


Founder's Day: The National Park Service Turns 99!

On August 25, 1916, Congress created the National Park Service, and every August 25th since has been celebrated as “Founder’s Day.”

This year, on Founder’s Day, all Americans can celebrate the birthday of their National Park Service by visiting any of your national parks, such as Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Lewis & Clark National Historical Park, Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, and any Washington State Park for free! This includes parks that require a Discover Pass, on lands managed by Washington State Parks, the Washington departments of Natural Resources (DNR) and Fish & Wildlife (WDFW).

Read more >>


Inclusive Play: Designing Outdoor Environments for Everyone

Northwest Playground Equipment is offering an accredited CEU presentation on Inclusive Playground design Aug 19th

Inclusive Play – Designing Outdoor Environments for Everyone
1.0 Hour 

Presentation Abstract
Every child who comes to the playground should be able to play on developmentally and age appropriate equipment. This presentation provides an overview of inclusive playground design, the importance of the planning process, and how the design process needs to focus on the child before any playground equipment is selected.

Read more >>


Ken Struckmeyer Student Scholarship Endowment Fund

After 40+ years of service to Washington State University and his students, Ken Struckmeyer has retired. His jovial and caring presence on campus is greatly missed. To honor Ken’s career as professor, coach, mentor, and colleague; an endowment has been established in his name, the Ken Struckmeyer Student Scholarship Endowment Fund. The endowment is awarded to students who are aspiring declared majors in landscape architecture.

Read more >>


Are You a Hiring Professional?

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Each year, the journal DesignIntelligence publishes an industry ranking of design schools around the country based on a survey sent to hiring professionals and firms, asking their opinions as to which schools best prepare students for the profession and what they look for in new grads.

The survey this year is due Friday, August 21. Please fill out the survey using the following link.

Read more >>


Support the Kenichi Nakano Endowed Scholarship Fund for Landscape Architecture

For over four decades, Kenichi Nakano graced the Pacific Northwest with exceptionally subtle and inviting modernist design, generously contributed to community and civic life, and mentored generations of students and professionals of all disciplines.

On August 8, 2012, we lost our teacher, mentor, and friend all too soon.

Your gift in memory of Kenichi to the Kenichi Nakano Endowed Scholarship Fund will leave a lasting legacy and support outstanding students in the University of Washington's Department of Landscape Architecture.

Read more >>


UW Landscape Architecture Internship/ Practicum Portal

 

UWLA PAC, Internship + Research Committee

The Landscape Department at the University of Washington has been working hard on providing its students with valuable resources that can better connect them with local employers for internships and practicum opportunities.

Prior to developing these resources we sent a survey to our local employer list to get feedback on what firms wanted and if they would use specific resources. We took this information and over the summer developed a space where employers can submit internships and practicums and positions to a page that is only accessible by our students...

Read more >>

Washington Chapter American Society of Landscape Architects 
[email protected]  206-443-9484 • www.wasla.org